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Dear Bulgarian community and all other friends and colleagues from across the Liverpool Region, Chester & Wrexham, I want to begin by apologising for the silence over the Summer. While many of you and I had a, no doubt, well-earned summer break, I have been working on a couple of ideas and projects behind the scenes, which I am going to tell you more about in this newsletter. It is somewhat hard to believe that I have now been in my role as Honorary Consul of Bulgaria to our region for more than 10 months already. I guess time flies when one is having fun. I hope you enjoy this newsletter and as always: If you have any questions, issues or ideas for activities that we could do together to help the local Bulgarian community, please do not hesitate to get in touch via email or my landline. I also want to extend a big THANK YOU! from HE Ambassador to UK, Tihomir Stoytchev and his wife Lubka to you. They have really started to feel at home in our region and feel the warmth of the local community. Enjoy the read. Благодаря Ви много.. Peter Schriewersmann 
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WHAT IS THE ROLE OF AN HONORARY CONSUL? For those of you that I have not spoken to in greater depth and explained what my role actually is, I thought I’d take a moment to go over it. To be an Honorary Consul is a purely voluntary and honorary role. In this case, I have been asked to take care of 2 particular areas on behalf of His Excellency Ambassador to the UK Tihomir Stoytchev: 1) Supporting our local Bulgarian community Tihomir asked me to get to know the local Bulgarian community of the Liverpool City Region, Chester and Wrexham better and to support with whatever is required. This is the reason why I’ve visited (and will continue to do so) Bulgarian shops, why I support the Bulgarian weekend schools, go to Bulgarian community parties and obviously also have started to support and organise our own events. More about the latter later in this newsletter. For many of you, the only touch point with the Embassy historically would have been the consular services, i.e. passports, etc. We have already had the consular section visit Liverpool earlier this year to help more than 80 Bulgarians with their paperwork. As promised, this will happen on a more regular basis and the next visit to my Consulate in Liverpool is scheduled for approximately February 2027. 2) Trade and commerce The second main area of activity revolves around trade and commerce between Bulgaria and my district. I am very keen to explore existing trade links and support them, as well as create new links in various areas of the economy. Many activities have already taken place in this regard, including most recently, a trade delegation of the British Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce (BBCC) to Liverpool, with a focus on maritime and IT, in late September. It sincerely is an honour to have been asked by your Ambassador to help him, to help your country and your people in whatever way we can and with your support, involvement and ideas, I’m sure we can make a difference over the upcoming years. 
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EUROVISION – WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BULGARIA & US? By now, we will have digested the amazing news that Bulgaria won the Eurovision Song Contest. No matter if you are into this show or not, the impact of hosting this long-standing and prestigious event, and the exposure that it will give Burgas cannot be underestimated. For those of you lucky enough to make it across in 2027 to see the show – lucky you! For everyone else, rest assured that millions of people will look at Bulgaria and Burgas specifically in a very, very positive way during and after Eurovision. From experience here in Liverpool, Eurovision can be a massive impulse for local tourism and the wider economy – but also more generally, an impulse for the country’s standing and the confidence of the people. Knowing what I know now about your community’s eagerness to have a party, I think we should aim to organise a Bulgaria-led ‘Eurovision watch-along’ party, inviting as many members of our community as possible and also some of our European friends along. I have started the ball rolling to work on this with contacts in the Local Authority and will keep you posted on this. Having connected Liverpool City Council to Bulgarian officials, it looks as if both places will be closer aligned and support each other in the lead up to Eurovision 2027, which is good news. Let’s make the most out of this opportunity and have a great time together. BANGARANGA! 
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BULGARIAN SUMMER PARTY For me, the highlight of this summer, apart from winning Eurovision, was our Bulgarian Community Summer Party at Hotel Anfield at the end of June. I share a couple of pictures from the night below. We had a brilliant evening of music, food, drink and fun. And many amazing conversations! I am very much looking forward to repeating it all over again in 2027 – including an evening closer to our Chester-based community. 
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QUICK UPDATES
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WILLIAM GLADSTONE SPECIAL ON BULGARIAN TV For those of you who still catch up with Bulgarian television, you might have seen the 1 hour special on William Gladstone, born in Liverpool, on television recently. I was asked by Boyko Vassilev to contribute and it was an honour for me to do so. You can click on the link below and see the whole programme. My contributions are at approx. 33 & 50 minutes into the programme.
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For now, I want to thank you again for your support and help during my journey as Honorary Consul so far. I hope that you can see the potential of our work together and we will continue pushing for the betterment of our community. My door is always open, so please get in touch when and if you need me. Thank you very much.
Peter Schriewersmann
eMail:
peter@bglcrhonoraryconsul.co.uk
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Consulate of Bulgaria, Liverpool Region Thank you for staying connected with the Bulgarian community across the Liverpool Region. 18 Keel Wharf, Liverpool, L3 4FP |
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