Friday 20 March 2009
By invitation only, Manchester Square, 18 Fitzhardinge Street,
London W1H 6EQ (see map here)

Dear Ratiu Scholars, Project Partners, and Friends,

As tradition dictates, this March we are organising a new edition of the Ratiu Foundation Annual Reception, and we would be delighted if you could attend this event. Confirmation is necessary. RSVP at mail@ratiufamilyfoundation.com by Tuesday 17 March 2009, mentioning a postal address where the hard copy of the invitation can be sent to you by regular mail. Please bring the invitation with you as access is made only on its basis.

This is going to be a really special celebration: not only the reception takes place in the new Ratiu Foundation Building, our place in Manchester Square, London W1, but this happens to be an anniversary year – as some of you might already know, the Foundation has just turned 30.

In 2008, in order to help us remember the great Ion Ratiu, and celebrate his life and achievements, we came up with the idea of all the participants wearing a bow-tie. The late Ion Ratiu (6 June 1917 – 17January 2000), the well known democracy campaigner, lawyer, journalist, writer, politician, businessman and philanthropist, was a devotee of this piece of apparel, so much so that he was affectionately known and recognised in Romania as ‘Mr Bow-Tie’. Wearing a bow-tie for this occasion would be a very appropriate way to help us remember and celebrate the life and deeds of this great man, whose generosity made your studies and projects and our activity and partnerships possible.

Those of you who attended last year’s party probably still remember the extraordinary atmosphere that permeated the day. This is why we decided to re-edit the event for 2009 as well. We are refreshing our traditional Annual Reception by giving it a theme and a surname, the Bow-Tie Party. Considering this would be the second edition with bow-ties on display, that we live in the computer age, and that we are going to have new and improved features, we thought we might as well call it Bow-Tie Party version 2.0.

Dress as informally as you like, casual yet smart, BUT it would be wonderful if you could wear a bow-tie (this is valid for girls and boys as well). Just to make sure there will be no misunderstandings, we will repeat last year’s advice:

THIS IS NOT A BLACK TIE EVENT! Although, if you have a full dinner suit, you are most welcome to wear it. The bow-tie could be a clip-on, a butterfly-broach, a toy one, drawn on paper, a hand-made one or even an imaginary one. It’s the state of mind that matters, not the dress. Dress casual and comfortable.

It will be a fine occasion for us all to meet in a relaxed and informal atmosphere in our own building. The attendance will be formed by scholars, students and researchers of all sorts, project managers, and cultural promoters. To show them our appreciation, our project partners are also invited to join in the fun. We promise to you all this will be an excellent occasion for us to meet and update each other on the progress of our work and to develop new ideas. We also guarantee a good party atmosphere.

Our Trustees will be present at the festivities and are looking forward to meeting you all and talking to you about your work and plans for the future.

Feel free to redirect this message to other Ratiu Scholars with whom you have kept in touch. We apologise in advance if we have omitted one or two contacts: Ratiu Scholars and Alumni are spread far and wide! Should you receive this invitation through a friend, please write to us and update your contact details.

This invitation extends to everybody we have ever supported and with whom we have ever worked together, from the United Kingdom and abroad. If you are not UK-based, but happen to be passing through London at the time, do get in touch with us.

When replying to this invitation, please include a short presentation / CV, of no more than 250 words. If you also happen to have photos and other documentary evidence of your projects supported by us, please send them to us as well.

We are looking forward to welcoming you on 20 March,

Nicolae Ratiu, Chairman
Ramona Mitrica, Director

The Ratiu Foundation in London was established in 1979, by Ion and Elisabeth Ratiu. In 2009, this generous initiative celebrates 30 years of the fight for independent thought and cultural excellence. The main objective of the Foundation is to promote and support projects which promote further education and research in the culture and history of Romania and its people.

At the moment, the Foundation maintains offices in London, Washington, Turda and Bucharest and is one of the main independent supporters of educational, cultural, civil society projects in Romania.

The Ratiu Foundation offers 100 annual grants, principally for postgraduate courses. The Ratiu grants are awarded to Romanian students to study a wide range of subjects in the UK. The Ratiu Foundation also offers annual seed funding for innovative projects, which foster Romanian arts and civilisation, heritage, civil society, democracy, and environmental protection.
More details on www.ratiufamilyfoundation.com