The British Residents’ Association of Malta is nearing its fortieth anniversary on the 26 February 2010, since beginning a long trek to integrate British expatriates into the Maltese community. Peter Robinson gives me a brief history of the Association, which started in February of 1970.
“The first meeting of the B.R.A. was held at the Phoenicia and there were over 300 people in attendance. Ten of our present members were at the first meeting. Our auditor was also present. If I remember correctly the cost for membership back then was one guinea or one pound and one shilling. This is equivalent to GBP1.05 or Lm0.65 in today’s money.”
Things do change and the annual subscription fee is presently Lm5 for each member and a one-time charge of Lm5 has to be paid to register on joining the Association. Being a non-profit organisation, all money paid into the association goes towards the publication of the magazine and subsidisation of other things. Surplus funds are directed back to the groups, which is generally used to organise functions.
Peter Robinson relieves me of my curiosity and tells me why he came to Malta. “I fell in love with Malta when I was stationed here from March of 1976 up to 1979 with the Royal Air Force. Whilst stationed here, I met my wife Mary, who is Maltese and was willing to leave her home country to live with me in the UK.
“Mary was the last RAF wife to leave Malta, which meant we could arrive at my new unit together, rather than by herself and not knowing anyone at all. It was a good rundown period and a peaceful time in Malta and people seemed quite sad to see the British leaving. I never thought I would return to Malta so soon, but we were back less than 2 years later to purchase a property and nearly 14 years ago, my wife and I came back to permanently live in Malta.”
He could not stay away.
Eileen Ellis had followed a similar route six years earlier. Eileen tells me her story: “I came to Malta in 1984 and went back and forth from the UK. I would spend three months in Malta and a month in the UK. Before coming to Malta I had been a writer for women’s magazines in Fleet Street for 20 years and was asked to write for a magazine here in Malta.
“I moved permanently to Malta in 1988 and eventually took over the B.R.A. Malta magazine at the end of 2005 not realising it had already been almost 20 years since I came here.”
Ever since the British Residents’ Association was established, their main objective was to provide a social outlet for all British expatriates opting to make Malta their new home. According to Mr Robinson, their policy and one of the “Objectives” enshrined in the BRA Constitution, is to “foster friendly and harmonious relations between members of the Association and the people of the Maltese islands”.
“To assist in this aim, all functions and events are open to guests of members, however most of the social circle is built up through individual relations rather than as an association.”
Perusing through the British High Commission of Malta’s website, one may come across indications of support for the B.R.A. Mr Robinson confirms this by saying they have close links with the High Commission and the High Commissioner, Nick Archer, is Patron of the Association.
“We also have many members of the Association who are active in local associations and clubs. This helps us in many ways and keeps us updated on what is going on locally.”
Nick Archer has been recognised for his ability to learn languages after learning how to speak Maltese in just a few months. I wonder whether Peter or Eileen picked up the language having been here for quite a number of years. At this point, Reggie, a friend of theirs, pipes up and says, “The Brits are too lazy to learn another language.”
In response to this Peter says, “Malta is a very attractive option for the British because the Maltese understand English and everything is bilingual, including legal documents, which means we always know and understand what we are getting ourselves into. British trying to learn Maltese normally give up after the first few classes because it is such a hard language to learn and remember.”
Reggie shares a story with me about an embarrassing moment he once had whilst at a restaurant, “The waitress was serving us drinks and Eileen said, ‘Tini naqra’ – ‘give me a small amount’. I decided to try it since it worked, only to say, ‘Tini nahra’ [nahra being the verb for defecating]. The waitress serving us could not contain herself and burst into a fit of laughter. I discovered the meaning of what I said and cannot say I blame her for laughing like that.”
The Association membership is primarily made up of people who have chosen Malta or Gozo as their place for retirement and with several groups in Malta and one in Gozo, it cannot be easy to keep themselves separate from Maltese life.
Mr Robinson says, “It is important for us to emphasise the fact that we are not interested in and have nothing to do with politics or religion. We are a secular association and we do not take sides.”
The B.R.A. Council consists of the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Hon Secretary, Hon Treasurer, Welfare Coordinator, Social Secretary, Membership Secretary and Magazine Editor who are elected at the Association’s Annual General Meeting and a representative is nominated by each Group. There are six groups dotted around Malta and Gozo, each one having its own chairperson, who is normally also part of the Council as group representative. Peter Robinson is also the chairman of the Sliema and St Julian’s group. “That amounts to 14 people on the council”.
Each group organises events for the members to meet up with friends and new people. The events generally include coffee mornings, lunches, cultural visits, pub nights and more. Although the groups are self-funding there is an annual disbursement of funds from the Council which is ploughed back into group activities, however if there is anything left over, it may be used to supply equipment needed for welfare support. Groups decide their own policy on charity donations, which means a variety of organisations are being supported. We also have a group membership scheme for the “The Malta Memorial District Nursing Association (M.M.D.N.A) which helps us greatly by providing welfare support and nursing facilities for the members.”
There are approximately 1,470 members in the B.R.A. however there are reputed to be about 6,000 to 7,000 British people living in Malta.
With such a small number of members in comparison to the actual number of people living here, adverts are regularly placed in the newspapers to attract more members. They need their numbers to increase since new people need to eventually take over. Most of the members are retired although a few are still working.
Members range in age from anything in their forties to the late nineties. We have even had people in their early hundreds. It is quite intriguing and I am told that the eldest member, Margie Halliday, passed away this summer at the grand old age of 101.
“From the welfare aspect, we try and give support to all our members by providing up to date information on most aspects of life in Malta from their arrival to death in Malta. This information is disseminated via coffee mornings, newsletter and the magazine”

bcaruana@mediatoday.com.mt