Are you a Francophile or Germanophile or just like to meet new people from different cultures? ….. then read on ……………
Are you aware that Didcot and its associated villages have close links with towns in France and Germany? Last year we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our official twinning with the town of Meylan, near Grenoble in SE France and recently we have been developing links with the town of Planegg in Bavaria, Germany with a view to a formal twinning in the future.
What is ‘twinning’? Twinning brings together people from different countries to share their values and cultures, promoting friendship and understanding. Twinning helps us to celebrate the differences as well as the similarities between two communities.
What’s involved? Visits take place every year, alternating between Meylan or Planegg and Didcot. When our guests come to Didcot we need families to host them. This involves looking after one or two people for the weekend, providing some meals and, ideally, accompanying them to various activities. When we visit Meylan and Planegg we are warmly welcomed as guests by families and have to pay only our travel costs.
What does the Didcot Twinning Association do? The Didcot Twinning Association (www.didcottwinning.org.uk) coordinates the annual visits on behalf of the town and can facilitate visits for individuals and groups at other times. We also help develop links between schools and associations, and hold fund-raising activities. To help with hosting the biennial event in Didcot we receive a grant from the Town Council.
What’s coming up? The next visit will be to Meylan between 8 and 11 September 2011. We would particularly like to encourage more associations to meet up with their counterparts in Meylan. Then, in November (24th to 27th), a small party from Planegg will come to Didcot and we would like to involve as many people as possible in meeting our German guests.
Would you like to know more or get involved? We would like to encourage as many people from Didcot and surrounding villages to be involved in the Twinning Association, the membership fee is just £5 per year for a family or £10 per year for an association. So if you would like to take part in one of the visits or just know more please contact the Secretary of the Association, Geoff Oldham (01235 816602; geoff.oldham@talktalk.net) or come along to the AGM on 22 June at 7:30pm in the Cornerstone.