April 2021 Newsletter

Welcome to HM Consul General Joe White & Deputy Consul General Tammy Sandhu

HM Consul General Joe White

The BBS is pleased to welcome HM Consul General Joe White and Deputy Consul General Tammy Sandhu to the Consulate in San Francisco.

Joe White MBE is Her Majesty’s Consul General, San Francisco, and Technology Envoy to the United States in a combined role for the UK government. Joe joins the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) following 20 years in the digital technology sector. He has extensive experience as an entrepreneur and venture capital investor.

He has served as: General Partner of Entrepreneur First, a Greylock backed early stage deep tech fund for which he’s raised and run $200m of funds; co-chair of GBx, a curated network of British entrepreneurs; a non-executive director for the UK’s Behavioural Insights Team where he advised on social impact technology products; and a former co-founder of Moonfruit.com, a website and e-commerce platform hosting 7m sites, which he exited in 2012.

He received an MBE from HM Queen in 2017 for Services to Technology Businesses.

Deputy Consul General Tammy Sandhu

Tammy Sandhu has had diplomatic postings to Morocco, Brussels and India and has served in Iraq and Kenya. She has worked on political and economic affairs, she has been a UK Government spokesperson and she has worked on bilateral trade and investment. She has worked on the Government response to crises, specifically dealing with high profile kidnaps of British Nationals overseas.

Before moving to San Francisco, Tammy worked in International HR. She was the Head of Secondments and then the Head of International HR Strategy and EU Exit for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Tammy also worked on the FCO’s Covid response.

In 2020 Tammy was elected Chair of the FCO’s Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Committee and later served as co-Chair of the merged Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) Race and Ethnicity Network. Tammy continues to work on racial equity both within the FCDO and through her work in San Francisco.

As Deputy Consul General, Tammy co-leads the Consulate General in San Francisco of more than 30 people covering UK-US relations across the Pacific North West: Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Alaska. The Consulate-General in San Francisco and the UK Government Office in Seattle cover a broad range of political and policy work including on climate, trade and tech, as well as providing support to British nationals and British companies in the Pacific North West.

Tammy was born in Leicester, United Kingdom. She joined the FCO in 2005 after completing a BA Hons in English Literature at the University of Warwick and an MSc in International Public Policy at University College London. Tammy is married with one daughter.

You can follow Tammy on Twitter @TammySandhu

BBS Relief & Covid19 Assistance

We want to thank all of our readers and donors as we continue to keep you up to date with the range of relief cases. We hope that by relaying these personal stories, we can express the range of needs that British nationals experience. It is with your support and donations that we can continue to provide essential assistance to those in need.

This year, we continue to receive a steady flow of requests for assistance. During the month of March, the BBS approved 4 Covid19 Grants of $1,500 each, one of which was used to help a single mother of 4 to set up her new apartment so that she and her young family could avoid homelessness. In another instance, the relief helped cover the costs associated with a water bill for a Brit in her 60’s who is currently participating in a Los Angeles County program to help the vulnerable avoid homelessness. The Relief Committee also approved the payment of Covid testing for a young British traveler who needed to urgently return to the UK.

In a particularly distressing case, we partnered with the British Consulate in San Francisco to help a disabled Brit return to the UK after the passing of his mother and only caregiver. The Consulate is working with a social work advisor in London who is making referrals on his behalf to social service agencies. The BBS Relief Committee has offered to help cover the cost involved with renewing his passport, flight and Covid testing upon arrival.

The BBS Relief Committee has approved close to $19,000 in relief since the start of 2021. We continue to receive requests for assistance on a regular basis. We are hopeful that we can continue to reach and help those who have fallen on hard times-which have been made more difficult because of the pandemic.

Upcoming Events

Saturday 3 April
Great British Virtual Bake Off

Time
3PM

Details
Registration for participation is closed but you are welcome to watch the Bake Off! For a donation of $10 you will receive a link allowing you to watch the Bake Off and kick off a little Easter Spirit.

Contact Jenn Baker should you want to watch the Bake Off.

Monthly Happy Hour

Friday 30 April
Monthly Virtual Happy Hour

Registration
Registration is required in order to receive event Zoom link. If you have any questions about the registration, please contact us.

Details
This event is free for anyone and will take place from 5-6 on the last Friday of each month.

Register Here Today

Annual General Meeting

Tuesday 19 October
Annual General Meeting

Please mark this date for our annual meeting.

Who We Are & How We Help

In 2020 the BBS provided just under $130,000 in aid including forty three $1,500 Covid19 Grants. This pandemic still ravages through communities throughout the world and we continue to deliver immediate assistance to British nationals who simply have no where else to turn.

Please help us continue to spread the word about the BBS. If you are in a position to make a donation, the time is now.