Important Dates
14 Mar 2012 LTA Executive Meeting at 7.30 in Southfields
28 Mar 2012 Schwäbisch Hall Group Meeting 19.30 at Southfields
8 Apr 2012 Schwäbisch Hall group leave for Germany, return on 13th April
9 May 2012 Schwäbisch Hall Group Meeting 19.30 at Southfields
16 May 2012 AGM of LTA.
17 May 2012 Visitors from Gembloux arrive
News
The AGM of the Association took place
on 18 May 2011. The minutes are here.
We visited Gembloux in Belgium in
early June, and had a great time.
Our friends from Schwäbisch Hall in
Germany visited us in early August. They were delighted
with their welcome and we enjoyed meetings, excursions
and fun and games.
The Polish Twinning group have very
recently been in Vilnius in Lithuania and then travelled
to the Bison reserve in Eastern Poland and then on to
our Twin town of Zamość.
Further details of all these visits
will appear in the next issue of the newsletter; out
soon.
The latest edition of the twinning
newsletter from Epinal can be found here
Twinning Activities
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Secretary: Hazel Meredith Phone 01509 212008
14 students from Pôle des Métiers - Epinal's vocational college - in training as hairdressers, bakers, pastry cooks, mechanics etc, spent 12 days in February on work experience in Charnwood organised by the Loughborough Chamber of Trade and Commerce. They and the 2 staff members were accommodated at Quorn Hall and such was the welcome they received by everyone, including the Mayor, that the college is keen to repeat the experience with future students.
Epinal's annual Autumn Street Market which is an amazing event completely filling the town centre was on Sunday September 11. David and Julia Wolfe, Jim Matthews, George Booth, Sue Hunt and Judith Sismey set off for the Braderie this Thursday (8 Sept 2011) in two cars with 90+ jars of marmalade and other items which Jim had obtained. Our thanks to the six who represented Loughborough and to all who made the marmalade.
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Epinal Town Hall has a list of families and individuals willing to host people from their seven twin towns of which Loughborough is one. If you are interested, please contact the secretary who will put you in touch.
One of our friends from Epinal, who finished her Pharmaceutical training requirements at Loughborough Hospital, is celebrating the baptism of he second son on October 1st, and there will be people from Loughborough joining in the festivities.
The latest, and 3rd, issue of the Epinal Twinning Newsletter covers the visit from the students from Pôle des Métiers to Loughborough. It is worth looking at this publication which can be found here
There are 37 active members of this group. New Members are always welcome.
The next meeting of the group to be announced
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Secretary: Pauline Hallam Phone 01509 646 847
2012 Visit to Germany April 8 to April 13 2012
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Following the excellent visit of our friends in 2011 we have been invited back.
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We are told that there is an excellent plan already organised for us. We had hoped to travel by train, but found that there were no seats available on the Paris Stuttgart link (Fully booked by early December as it is the Easter Weekend). However we were able to book the group on the 16.30 Flybe flight from Birmingham to Stuttgart, which is quicker and cheaper than the train, but less exciting. Perhaps next time!
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There are 52 active members of this group. New Members are always welcome
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Contact: Jenny Carter Phone 01509 233189
We visited Gembloux from 2 June to 7 June 2011 (travelling at 185 mph by Eurostar) and had a fascinating time there. Most British people fail to appreciate the rich heritage and culture of Belgium.
Our first visit was to the Castle of Veves. A beautiful fairytale-like castle owned by the same family since the 13th Century.
Other visits were to a snail farm, (with snails for lunch), to a re-enactment of the battle of Ligney (How many other Loughburians know about this famous battle?) and to to the boat lifts of the Canal du Midi. It was a totally fascinating visit.There are 30 active members of this group. New Members are always welcome
Date of the next meeting:- 15 Feb 2012 -
Secretary: Sue Holownia, phone 01509 214056
Members of the Zamość Twinning group visited Poland in August 2011 .
They first flew to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, where they were joined by a group from Zamość, our twin town in Poland. Vilnius is steeped in history and the old city has been restored to its former glory.
After a few days in Lithuania they went by coach to the East of Poland to Białowieź National Park, the only Wild Bison reserve in Europe. After spending two nights there the party moved on to Zamość for five nights.
The group from Loughborough was entertained, wined and dined with wonderful Polish hospitality. Everyone agreed that it was a very happy and successful trip.
Bob Holownia, the Chairman, has invited the Twinning Group in Zamość to visit Loughborough next Summer.
Date of the next meeting:-TBA
There are 43 active members of this group. New Members are always welcome
The Importance of Twinning
Wars have plagued Europe for thousands of years, culminating in massive destruction and many millions of deaths in the wars of the 20th Century.
A determination to prevent the recurrence of the horrors of 1939-1945 war inspired the leaders of the nations of Europe to work for economic and political co-operation, which led ultimately to the formation of the European Union.
Similarly the leaders of the towns and cities of Europe formed links with Twin Towns across the continent to encourage an appreciation of the civic and personal lives of our fellow Europeans.
The EU has supported and sponsored Town Twinning since 1989 and supports around 11,000 twinning partnerships involving over 80,000 people. Find out more about EU support here
Never again will a British Prime Minister be able to say: "How horrible, fantastic it is that we should be digging trenches and trying on gas-masks here because of a quarrel in a far away country between people of whom we know nothing." (Prime Minister Joseph Chamberlain in September 1938, talking about the invasion of Czechoslovakia by German forces.)
Loughborough was one of the first Twin Towns, linking with Epinal in France more that 50 years ago, ten years later a link was formed with Schwäbisch Hall in Germany and later with Gembloux in Belgium and finally with Zamość in Poland following the expansion of the EU after the collapse of the communist government.
Our main activity is a programme of family exchanges. Each twin town sends a group to visit Loughborough and hosts a group from Loughborough in alternate years.
In addition we send and receive young people who seek work experience, there are official visits by the mayors and civic leaders, there are school exchanges, and sporting exchanges. There have been numerous bridge competitions between the twin towns, as well as visits by choirs and country dancing groups.
We have helped young people from our twin towns to see something of the UK. Tomek Kossowski and Marcin Grabski from Zamość spent six months working in and learning from our local authority and now hold senior positions in the administration of Zamość
Laura Moczarska has graduated with a degree in Finance and Accounting at Warwick University in the summer of 2008. She has now obtained a Master's degree at Maastricht University, and after a period as a tax advisor with Ernst and Young in the city of London she is now working for Google in Dublin.
Agnieszka Słiwa successfully completed a similar course at Nottingham University and has now returned to Poland, both have been assisted by the Twinning Association.Ina Herrmann, the daughter of our twinning friends in Schwäbisch Hall, has just spent 6 weeks with us in Loughborough. She is currently in her second year at Tübingen University and will graduate qualified to teach English in schools in Germany. During her time with us she had work experience with Charnwood Borough Council and at Loughborough High School, she also visited Oxford and Cambridge, Ely and Eastbourne and spent time in London. Ina is now studying at Chapel Hill University in North Carolina for a year.
Further information about the Loughborough Twinning Association can be obtained from the Secretary, Sue Hunt: Phone 01509 769089, email soohunt@hotmail.com
More details of Twinning activities can be found in the Newsletters
October 2010 Edition
© Loughborough Twinning Association. Last updated 21 January 2012
This information is supplied by David Walker,
337 Beacon Road Loughborough, on behalf of the
Loughborough Twinning Association. Contacts:
email: David.Walker@BNC.Oxon.org
Phone +441509 215658