A look at what 2009 brought and what is on the agenda for 2010

The BCCH will host an early celebration of Shrove Tuesday and Pancake Day on Tuesday, 9 February 2010, starting from 18:00 at the Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal. Shrove Tuesday is the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Christian season of fasting and prayer called Lent. In the UK and Ireland, it is often known as Pancake Day, the reason for which is that making pancakes use up ingredients such as sugar, fat and eggs, whose consumption was traditionally restricted during Lent, so that is exactly what we are going to do, and hope that many of you will join us.

Hungary could join the euro zone in the next four years if the new government formed after elections due in April remains on the track of tight fiscal policy set by the current cabinet, Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai said. "If Hungary remains on this path, if we can keep the (budget) deficit this low, then we could be the first in the region among countries that do not yet have the euro - Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary - to adopt it," Bajnai told public television channel m1 in an interview, also adding that this is possible to happen in the next four years.

After supporting the Great British Christmas Market at the end of last year, hosting a seminar by the Buffin Leadership International Team on 19 January 2010, and recruiting eight Hungarian food companies to attend the "Taste of Britain" Central European food exhibition in Vienna, the British Embassy and its UKTI Section continues to support many initiatives, including the Best Workplace for Women 2009 Award and VisitBritain's mission to promote UK travel and attractions worldwide.

BZT Media Group, publisher of The Budapest Times and Budapester Zeitung and their websites joined the BCCH in 2009. In interview, publisher Jan Mainka talks about the importance of a serious English language newspaper in Budapest, about how his organisation has grown over the years, and been able to weather the crisis; and how after a decade with the Zeitung and publishing the Times for six years they are keeping up when so many competitors have pulled back or left the scene entirely.

The nineteenth edition of the Hungarian Financial and Stock Exchange Almanac was published at the end of last year, offering a detailed overview of the Hungarian financial system, which is changing and transforming under the effect of the current crisis. The Almanac is the sole publication on the Hungarian book market which includes information about Hungary's entire financial institutional system, providing an overview of where, when and who filled various roles on different levels of the Hungarian institutional system, of changes affecting the ownership composition, as well as strategic concepts and plans shaping the institutional system.

The Hungarian Donors Forum gave out awards to the TOP Corporate Philanthropist for the fourth time in 2009 at a ceremony following a conference held on 10 December at Kogart House. The Top Corporate Philanthropist Award was established in order for the Donors Forum to take part in strengthening the corporate responsibility of the business sector by presenting the donating activities of companies, as well as acknowledging and publishing them. The 24 companies that participated in the survey had spent more than 4.5 billion HUF on donating last year.