Who we are and what we do

The British Club in Gothenburg is a social club offering ‘the best of British’ in the West of Sweden. Membership is open to people with some connection to Britain, regardless of their nationality.

The club is run on a voluntary basis and enjoys, as the mainstay of its activities, a series of social events for members and their guests to meet in a friendly and traditonal British atmosphere. It also hosts occasional outings and special events, such as a treasure hunt in the park.

Our membership base of over 150 families continues to thrive, and new applications are always welcome.

 

Latest news

Poppy Appeal 2023

Poppy Appeal poster

Poppies will be available in Gothenburg from St Andrews Church, The British Shop, and the Paddington pub as usual. Please donate any amount you can afford. It is the least we can do to thank those who gave their all, so that we might live full lives.

Please make a donation, large or small, to our dedicated Poppy Appeal account:

(Give your name as the message.)

Hiking with friends (22 May 2023)

Swedish countryside

Are you interested in taking a packed lunch and hiking 15 -20 km in the beautiful Swedish countryside together with family and friends? If so, send a mail to David Turner:  

This is a new initiative by our member Liz Turner, and a joint venture with the International Women’s Club.

AGM - new committee members (25 Feb 2023)

gavel

Alan White stepped down, but we were delighted to welcome three new committee members:

David Drake, who will take over from Alan, David Turner, who will shadow Monica as Secretary, and George Berwick, who is our Postmaster. (See also the Past events page.)

Members interviewed by the BBC (12 Feb 2023)

Gothenburg heart sculpture. Photo credit: Anthony Saddington, BBC.

A BBC Look East correspondent recently interviewed Bernadette and Lars-Gunnar Johansson, members of the British Club in Gothenburg, about their experience of living with Gothenburg's congestion charge ("trängselskatt"); Cambridge is considering implementing a congestion charge and the BBC wanted to film a story about how, a decade on from implementing the one in Gothenburg, people here feel about it. He also interviewed Gothenburg researchers, the city planners who brought in the congestion charge and the political party founder who tried to stop it through a referendum.

This is a link to the interesting BBC online article, featuring the Johanssons: What can Cambridge learn from Gothenburg's congestion charge?

And here’s a link to the BBC Look East televised debate: Cambridge congestion charge: The Big Debate. About half way through, it shows the Gothenburg segment that they filmed. (NOTE: You will need a UK VPN service to view BBC iPlayer from Sweden.)

Death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (9 Sept 2022)

The British Club committee wishes to pay tribute to the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away yesterday (Thursday 8th September). Through long and faithful service to realm and Commonwealth, she has been an inspiration to all. She served her country for 70 years, maintaining dignified stability through enormous upheavals. Our thoughts and prayers go to her family.

You can sign a memorial book or light a candle here.

Here are two tributes to the Queen from former prime ministers speaking in the House of Commons: Boris Johnson and Theresa May. Both speeches show heartfelt warmth and humour.

... and in memory of her own sense of fun, here is that moment in the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony where the Queen parachuted down in a crystal-and-lace cocktail dress, escorted by James Bond 007.

Brits in Gothenburg in national magazine (2 May 2022)

Göteborg Sjöbergen och Eriksberg

The English-language magazine The Local has just published a feature article entitled Why is Gothenburg known as Sweden's 'Little London'? The article was written by Alex Maxia, who has worked for Sveriges Radio P3 Dokumentär and as a freelance journalist reporting from Oslo and Utøya for the BBC World Service, among others.

The British Club gets a mention in his piece, and if you have a subscription to The Local, you can read the full article here. (If you are a fast reader you can read the first paragraph for free ...)

Entering Sweden on a British passport (2 April 2022)

British passports (burgundy + blue)

If you present a British passport at the border control coming into Sweden, the border guard may decide to stamp your passport to limit your stay to 90 days in a 180-day period (the usual rule for non-EU citizens). But this rule does not apply to Brits, as long as you followed all the Withdrawal Agreement procedures for getting a permanent residence permit ("permanent uppehållstillstånd", PUT) before 31 Dec 2021. You should proactively present this permit at the border as well as your British passport to avoid getting the stamp.

More information at the GOV.UK Living in Sweden page. (click on "Passports and travel".)

Note that, if you have Swedish citizenship ("svenskt medborgarskap"), the Migration Agency says that you can't also have residence status ("uppehållsstatus"), which means that, instead of a residence permit, you should present either a Swedish passport or your Swedish certificate of citizenship at the border. (Your ordinary Swedish ID card doesn't show your citizenship, so the border guard may not be satisfied with that.)

If you can't find your certificate of citizenship, you can request a copy by filling out a form on the Migration Agency website (you just pay the postage).

AGM - new British Club Committee (12 Mar 2022)

gavel

After a lively discussion, we were able to warmly welcome four new committee members:

John Chaplin -Chair

Ian Leigh - Treasurer

Adrian Montague - Membership Secretary

Mark Killick - Ordinary member

Monica Edholm remains as our ever-faithful Secretary, Peter Martin as our Vice-Chair, Alan White as Poppy Appeal coordinator and Richard Huntley as an ordinary member.

Poppy Appeal (1 Dec 2021)

British Legion paper poppy

We are pleased to report that the Poppy Appeal in Gothenburg and Malmö this year raised over 24 000 SEK - an impressive show of generosity.

Warm thanks to all members who made donations.

COVID-19 information for Sweden (1 Mar 2021)

Swedish Health Authority

Keep yourself up to date on COVID-19 information in English from the Public Health Agency of Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten). This site includes the latest Swedish regulations, guidelines and strategy.

The British Council - archive NHS films (2 Aug 2020)

British Council UK film

In appreciation of the work of the NHS, the British Council has presented a collection of fascinating archive films:

A Celebration of Health Services on Film.

"We've been digging through our collection of 100+ short documentaries made during the 1940s, designed to show the world how Britain lived, worked and played - and have found some real treasures exploring our health services. Since its inception [in 1948], the National Health Service has provided medical care “free at the point of use” based on need not income. During these strange times, as Covid-19 makes the world feel very different, it’s more important than ever to celebrate the wonderful work being done in hospitals and clinics across the country."

The British Shop - now with webshop (5 Apr 2020)

British Shop logo

Check out the new British Shop webshop – perfect for those Easter hot cross buns. Delivery or pickups available.

Application for Swedish citizenship (30 Dec 2019)

union jack yellow+blue-flag

In these Brexit times, many Brits in Sweden are considering applying for Swedish citizenship, which gives you dual citizenship and the right to vote in Swedish elections, as well as peace of mind about any future impact of Brexit on Brits living in EU countries. It costs 1500 Swedish kronor and you apply to the Swedish immigration agency, Migrationsverket.
More details on who qualifies for citizenship and how to apply.

You may be asked to send in your British passport with your application or it may state that they will contact you if and when they need to see it. Please follow whichever instruction you are given. (If you don't send all requested documents, this can slow down your application.)

The new British Shop is open (22 Nov 2019)

British Shop in Antikhallarna

Good news! The British Shop in Antikhallarna (Västra Hamngatan 6, nearest tram stop: Domkyrkan) had its grand opening on 9 Nov, and we wish Paul and Rosie all the best for their new venture. They refresh their stock regularly, so keep an eye on the British Shop Facebook page for updates.

See also the Antikhallarna website to get a feel for the beautiful locale. The Latteria café occupies the central area, so why not drop by and stay for lunch as well?

Guidance for Brits returning to the UK (3 Oct 2019)

Government UK crown

If you are a UK national considering returning to the UK permanently, here is the latest information about some of the actions you may need to take.

New British Ambassador to Sweden (20 Sept 2019)

Judith Gough

Judith Gough is the new British Ambassador to Sweden, after four years as British Ambassador to Ukraine.

British citizens overseas can sign petitions to the UK government (July 2019)

UK government petitions

Did you know that you are eligible to start or sign petitions to the UK government or Parliament? The Petitions Committee is set up by the House of Commons. It follows up the issues raised in the most popular petitions, and it has the power to press for action from government or Parliament. If a petition gets over 100,000 votes it is considered for debate in Parliament, so it is a way to make your voice heard in the UK.

See the most popular petitions here, and sign any that you feel strongly about. There are several petitions to leave the EU, with from 40,000 to 580,000 votes, but the most popular petition by far is the one to revoke Article 50 and stay in the EU; this one received over 6 million votes and was debated in Parliament on 1 April.

Brits in Gothenburg featured in local press (2 Mar 2019)

English Shop and Old Beefeater Inn

The local newspaper, Göteborgs-Posten, did a feature article on Brits in Gothenburg (a city once known as "Lilla London" because there were so many Brits here). The British Club gets a mention.

Read the article here (in Swedish)

No more direct ferry options to the UK (2016)

DFDS now report that they no longer take foot passengers or private vehicles on their freight ferry from Gothenburg to Immingham. So if you want to take a car to the UK, there is no direct connection by sea. You either need to plan two extra days in each direction and drive via Denmark, Germany and Holland/Belgium/France, or leave the car here and travel by plane.