BRUSSELS: Introducing the Community Resource List for Brussels

Introducing the Community Resource List (CRL) for Brussels!

To make it easier for everyone to find local recommendations and information, check out the Community Resource List or CRL for short.

Access your Community Resource List here

Submit your recommendations here

This is a go-to list for information guides, local businesses, babysitters, pet sitters, restaurants, days out, local businesses, mechanics, hairdressers, and more!

The CRL resource should help new arrivals and anyone with a burning question that might have already been asked and answered previously in different groups. The benefit of this being you can check the list anytime, especially if you need to know something ASAP.

This list is for and by your community so please add any and all of your if you have a recommendations by using this quick MS Form.

The list will be updated regularly with any new entries.

Information provided by SHAPE HIVE

BELGIUM: Summer Events in Belgium 2026

Some dates for your diaries, feast your eyes on the Summer Events in Belgium for 2026.

Information provided by SHAPE HIVE

Gibraltar: Summer Sports & Leisure Programme

This year’s Summer Sports and Leisure Programme will start Monday 6th July until Friday 28th August. Registrations to Sports Train and the programmes Support and Integration Service is now open with links and QR codes available on the GSLA Website. Face to face registration available at the Bayside Sports Complex 10am to 3pm.

Details of all activities on offer over the summer period can be seen on the GSLA Website www.gsla.gi

Registration links to Sports Train activities is now open.

For further information please contact the GSLA Sports Development, Training and Inclusion team on email sportsdevelopment@gsla.gi

A statement from the Government follows below:

Gibraltar: Summer Cultural Programme for Young People

Gibraltar Cultural Services have launched their summer cultural programme for young people, as part of the GSLA’s summer sports, cultural and leisure programme.  

A full schedule of events is available at Culture.gi, Advance booking is recommended by calling +350 200 41839. Tickets for workshops can be booked online via Buytickets.gi.

A statement from GCS follows below:

BELGIUM: Back on Senne at the Sewer Museum, from now until 3rd January 2027

It is commonly said that Belgium has a Museum for Everything, but did you know that this country is home to a Sewer Museum?

Remi the Rat from Disney's Ratatouille may spring to mind, but it is in fact true, and Brussels is the location for this fascinating place. And from now until early-January 2027, Back on Senne is an exhibition that unlocks the hidden river beneath its premises. Projections, spatial sound and laser beams immerse visitors in a sensory landscape of moving light, tones and water movement. Workshops, guided walks and more are available.

The Sewer Museum is one of the 160+ museums throughout Belgium that take part in FREE Museums Sunday on the First Sunday of the Month too!

WHEN: Now until 3rd January 2027
WHERE: Anderlechtsepoort, 1000 Brussels
MORE INFORMATION: https://sewermuseum.brussels/en/

Information provided by SHAPE HIVE

BRUSSELS: Flight Exhibition, Friday 17th October 2025 until Sunday 9th August 2026

Ever wondered how to defy gravity? Short of finding Elphaba’s copy of the Grimmerie, why not pop along to the Museum of Natural Sciences to discover just how animals and humans can soar above the clouds without broomstick or magic.

Nature meets technology at this fascinating exhibition. Youngsters will also get a chance to make their own paper aeroplane soar too! Suitable for ages 10 and upwards.

WHEN: Friday 17th October 2025 until Sunday 9th August 2026

WHERE: Natural Sciences Museum, Rue Vautier 29, 1000 Brussels.

MORE INFORMATION: https://www.naturalsciences.be/en/museum/exhibitions-activities/exhibitions/flight

 

Information provided by SHAPE HIVE

BELGIUM: Drink Driving Rules tightened

New stricter national drink driving regulations have been introduced to harmonise rules and further deter motorists from driving under the influence.

Previously, national regulations stipulated an immediate license suspension for drivers with a blood alcohol content of 1.15mg/l or higher. This threshold has now been lowered to 0.8mg across Belgium.

Introduced by justice minister Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) this week, the new rule is valid immediately for the entire country. The debate began when it became apparent that prosecutors were applying different approaches across the country.

Public prosecution offices in Limburg, Antwerp and Flemish Brabant had already taken the initiative of revoking the licenses of offenders with a blood alcohol content of 0.8mg/l or higher. Meanwhile, prosecutors’ offices in East Flanders, West Flanders and Wallonia did not follow this rule.

The minister therefore decided to harmonise the penalty. In addition, driving licences will be revoked for blood alcohol levels of 0.35mg/l or higher, compared to 0.50mg/l previously.

“This stricter approach, which will be applied in strict accordance with existing legislation, sends an unequivocal message: these dangerous driving behaviors will no longer be tolerated,” Verlinden warned.

Regarding the use of drugs when driving, ketamine will soon be added to the list of illicit substances detectable by saliva test.

Driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs remains a recurring cause of road fatalities. The minister notes, however, that social tolerance towards driving under the influence remains too high, despite decades of awareness campaigns.

“That is why the directives issued to the police and prosecutors are being strengthened, and all relevant circulars are being adapted, in order to standardise the application of this stricter policy across the country,” she concluded.

Information provided by SHAPE HIVE

LILLE: Introducing the Community Resource List for Lille!

Introducing the Community Resource List (CRL) for Lille!

To make it easier for everyone to find local recommendations and information, check out the Community Resource List or CRL for short.

Access your Community Resource List here

Submit your recommendations here

This is a go-to list for information guides, local businesses, babysitters, pet sitters, restaurants, days out, local businesses, mechanics, hairdressers, and more!

The CRL resource should help new arrivals and anyone with a burning question that might have already been asked and answered previously in different groups. The benefit of this being you can check the list anytime, especially if you need to know something ASAP.

This list is for and by your community so please add any and all of your if you have a recommendations by using this quick MS Form.

The list will be updated regularly with any new entries.

Information provided by SHAPE HIVE

BELGIUM: Claim your VAT back from UK Amazon orders to the BFPO address

 

Did you know that you can claim back your VAT from UK Amazon orders that have been delivered to the Belgium BFPO 26 address?

To claim back your VAT you need to email vat-refund-requests@amazon.co.uk.

Below is a basic draft email for you to copy and edit. Once you’ve written your email, you need to send it to: vat-refund-requests@amazon.co.uk to claim back your VAT from UK Amazon orders to the BFPO address. 

BELGIUM: The best ice-cream shops in Brussels

Are you an Ice-Cream Connoisseur, a Gelato Gourmet or a Sundae Specialist?

Be sure to check out the favourite artisanal ice-cream shops across Brussels. I wonder how many you could visit this Summer? Challenge accepted? Find out more HERE

Information provided by SHAPE HIVE