British Council

The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh language in Argentina); encouraging cultural, scientific, technological and educational cooperation with the United Kingdom. The organisation has been called a soft power extension of UK foreign policy, as well as a tool for propaganda. The British Council is governed by a Royal Charter. It is also a public corporation and an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB), sponsored by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Its headquarters are in Stratford, London. Its acting Chair is Sarah Sands and its Chief Executive is Scott McDonald. History 1934: British Foreign Office officials created the "British Committee for Relations with Other Countries" to support English education abroad, promote British culture and fight the rise of fascism. The name quickly became the British Council for Relations with Other Countries. 1936: The organisation's name was officially shortened to the British Council. 1938: The British Council opened its first four offices in Bucharest (Romania), Cairo (Egypt), Lisbon (Portugal) and Warsaw (Poland). The offices in Portugal are currently the oldest in continuous operation in the world. 1940: King George VI granted the British Council a Royal Charter for promoting "a wider knowledge of [the United Kingdom] and the English language abroad and developing closer cultural relations between [the UK] and other countries". 1942: The British Council undertook a promotion of British culture overseas. The music section of the project was a recording of significant recent compositions by British composers: E.J. Moeran's Symphony in G minor was the first work to be recorded under this initiative, followed by recordings of Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, Bliss' Piano Concerto, Bax's Third Symphony, and Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius. 1944: In August, after the liberation of Paris, Austin Gill was sent by the British Council to reestablish the Paris office, which soon had tours by the Old Vic company, Julian Huxley and T. S. Eliot. 1946: The British Council collected handicraft products from crafts that were being practised in the British countryside for an "Exhibition of Rural Handicrafts from Great Britain" that travelled to Australia and New Zealand.