Cheltenham International Partnerships

Cheltenham / Annecy 60th Twinning Anniversary Photo Competition

Capture our town to celebrate twinning

Competition now CLOSED.
Thank you for the entries.
View those selected here.

To celebrate 60 years of twinning between the twin towns of Cheltenham and Annecy, a photo competition is being organised, on the theme ‘I PRESENT MY TOWN’. We are pleased to be running this in conjunction with Cheltenham Camera Club.

Download the Terms and conditions and Entry Form

Participants can submit up to three photographs that will illustrate the theme: ‘I present my town’. This may be Cheltenham’s architecture, people, entertainment or environment. The photographs need to display an aspect of Cheltenham to the people of Annecy. There will be a cash prize of £100 for the first prize winner and hampers of local produce for the second and third prize winners. The competition opens on 1 March 2016 until 8 May 2016. Up to 30 images will be chosen and sent digitally to Annecy where the prints will be reproduced for an exhibition.

The photographs can be taken either with a camera, a smartphone or tablet and effects can be added. Participants should be amateurs not professionals. Entrants should give a title to their photos and ideally comment on their choice or the emotion attached to it.

From the selected images sent to Annecy, a panel will choose the top ten and the first and second choice. The third choice will be voted for by the public at the exhibition. Annecy will send Cheltenham 30 of their selected photos for Cheltenham to choose Annecy’s winners.

The town of Annecy will announce the winners in Annecy during the visit of the official delegation from Cheltenham from 24-27 June 2016. In turn, Cheltenham will present the awards during the visit of Annecy’s delegation to Cheltenham from 7-12 July 2016. The photos will be exhibited at The Wilson from 20 June to 14 July 2016.

Photographs and the entry form can be submitted from 1 March to 8 May 2016 via email to twinning@cheltenham.gov.uk (in Jpeg format and no larger than 20MB) or on a CD to the Twinning Officer, Annette Wight, Cheltenham Borough Council, Municipal Offices, Promenade, GL50 9SA.

Download the Terms and conditions and Entry Form or contact Annette Wight, 01242 264311, annette.wight@cheltenham.gov.uk.

Interclub Photo Competition

To mark their 150^th anniversary from 1865 to 2015, the Cheltenham Camera Club organised an interclub photo competition during 2015 between Cheltenham and the photo clubs of our twin towns of Annecy and Gottingen. The top three photos from each town, in the categories of Best Picture, Highly Commended and Commended can be viewed below.

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60th Anniversary twinning trip to Annecy

This trip is now full. Thank you for your interest.

Cheltenham Twinning Association is organising a trip to Annecy to mark the 60th anniversary of the twinning link between the two towns. The visit will take place from 3-10 August 2016 to coincide with Annecy’s spectacular ‘Fete du Lac’ (lake festival) that takes place on the first Saturday in August every year. The 8 day trip by coach will include overnight stops in Reims and the outskirts of Paris and 5 nights in Annecy, either staying with a family or in a hotel/hostel. The price is £255 or £395 per person depending on the accommodation chosen. A single room supplement applies.

The Association would be delighted to welcome anyone interested in this trip and wishing to participate in the 60th anniversary celebrations. Please read the further information and return the booking form if you are interested or contact the Twinning Officer.

The Twinning Officer would also like to hear from anyone who could offer host family accommodation in their home for visitors from Annecy when they visit Cheltenham from 7-12 July 2016 for the 60th anniversary celebrations here and indeed from anyone who would like to get involved and could help linguistically or otherwise.

Almost Athletes run in Göttingen

In July this year, at the invitation of the Twinning Association, Almost Athletes selected 3 runners to travel to Göttingen to take part in the annual Old Town Run. Graham (Gray) Davis, Matt Proome and Paul Turner were the lucky names drawn from the beanie hat, so we 3 intrepid runners set off via plane and train to arrive at our hotel in Göttingen at nearly midnight.

At breakfast the following morning, we met runners from Göttingen’s other twin towns in Germany and Poland, then it was off to meet our hosts in town for lunch in the new Town Hall building – great views from the restaurant on the top floor! As the day went on, it got hotter and hotter – and we all realised that PBs (personal best times) were highly unlikely. After a couple of shorter races (children’s and a 5km run), we 10km runners lined up in the square for the start of the race – 6 laps winding through the centre of the Old Town. Suffice to say that our PB expectations were accurate – the heat (even after 8pm!) duly played its part – but all 3 of us really enjoyed taking part. Fantastic support from the townspeople all round the course – which was not surprising, as everyone we met in Göttingen was so friendly – and impressed that we’d come “all the way from Cheltenham” to run!

The morning after the race, we were treated to a very interesting guided tour of the Old Town Hall and the old town centre itself – amazing to discover just how closely Göttingen has been linked to Britain for so long via the House of Hannover. Our afternoon was spent sightseeing, then the deputy mayor with responsibility for tourism and twinning hosted a meal at a traditional restaurant for the runners from the 3 twin towns. The liquid celebrations carried on for some time after we’d finished eating…

All three of us really enjoyed our visit to Göttingen, and we were immensely proud to represent Cheltenham at the race; the Old Town, steeped in history and well worth a visit, is compact, thus easy to stroll round, with plenty of good places to eat (and drink!) – and for runners, the races are well organised, marshalled and supported. And flat!

Thanks must go to the Twinning Association for the invitation to take part and for their generous assistance with travel costs.

Report and pictures supplied by Paul Turner, Almost Athletes

National Star College link with Annecy

From 15-17 April the Director of International Development, David Finch, and a colleague from the National Star College visited Annecy to investigate the opportunities for linking and working with the organisation ADIMC74 in Annecy who care for those with special needs. The visit was extremely beneficial and several areas for partnership working were discussed. David Finch’s report on the visit, together with photos can be viewed here.

Visit to Stampersgat 2015

A group of 22 people visited our friendship town of Stampersgat from 14-17 May for the 45^th anniversary of the link. Some new ‘younger’ people took part this year and below is an account of the trip from two of these first timers!

Our first experience of the Stampersgat friendship link – as shared by Ben Humphris and Caron Weir

After being invited into the Stampersgat friendship group, the planning began for our first trip. From knowing the history of how the link was formed by Ben’s Grandfather, we were very interested to be a part of something so special, especially with the group celebrating 45 years of friendship.
On arrival in the village we met our hosts (who were new to the group also) and our adventure began. We felt immediately welcomed by our hosts. Our first night consisted of getting to know each other over drinks!
On Friday we paid our respects at the grave of fallen Corporal Dennis Lee and took time to remember all the soldiers from around the world, especially the Gloucestershire Regiment. It was a lovely opportunity to remember all those lives lost. Afterwards we were served light refreshments at the school in the village. They had on display, a selection of photos, newspaper articles and memorabilia commemorating the friendship link over the 45 years. The football club in Stampersgat put on a lovely lunch and more social chatter ensued. Afterwards we were lucky enough to explore surrounding towns with our hosts, such a beautiful insight into the area. Then it was time for the evening of entertainment we had prepared for our hosts….great food and great company. A great evening had by all!!
The Saturday consisted of a day trip to Antwerp in Belgium which was very interesting. We were lucky enough to have a guide to explain all about the history of the city.
On our return Ben and I were lucky enough to take part in the ‘Cheltenham Run’ which was 5km through the village of Stampersgat. The run takes place in the village every year and on hearing there were people from Cheltenham they asked a member of the friendship group to start the race. It was great to be able to take part in the race whilst being there. The community came out in force to support us all. In the evening we enjoyed a BBQ with all the newbies and it continued into the early hours.

Our final day and time to say goodbye, even though we had only just met our hosts, they felt like family! We can’t wait to welcome our new friends to Cheltenham in 2017 and look forward to the next 45 years.

Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra to visit Göttingen

The Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra will be going on tour to Germany this summer and performing a concert in Cheltenham’s twin town of Göttingen as part of the programme of the Cheltenham Festival in Göttingen. The orchestra will be performing at the St Johannis Church on Monday evening 27 July 2015. They will also be playing in Dransfeld on Sunday 26 July and in Mönchengladbach on 29 July. The 60 strong orchestra will join with around 70 other visitors from Cheltenham in a programme of twinning activities whilst in Göttingen, full details of which can be viewed here, should anyone be interested in joining the group.

YMCA cycle to Göttingen

Six staff and friends from the Cheltenham YMCA set off on their bicycle ride from Cheltenham to Göttingen in July. Each participant hoped to raise £1000 towards the work of the YMCA. Once in Europe the group were met by members of the Göttingen YMCA and they cycled together to Göttingen and were welcomed by the Mayor of Göttingen. The cyclists set off from the twinning signpost in Imperial Gardens.

YMCA cyclists 2015

Internships

As part of an initiative to raise awareness of Europe in the run up to the General Election, two internships were organised for students from Annecy and Göttingen. Arthur Cheul from Annecy is helping out at the Lib Dem Office until after the elections and has been here since January and Stina Buentge from Göttingen arrived on 23 March and will be working with the Council’s Election team until after the election. It is hoped that both will get involved with local residents, students and the media to put across their (personal) point of view of Europe and its benefits.

Summer work in Annecy 2015

These two posts have now been filled for summer 2015.

Natasha Steels a former pupil of Pates Grammar School will be working as part of the gardens and green space team in Annecy and Eleanor Fawcett, a former Balcarras School pupil currently studying French at Cambridge University, will take up the post in the Youth Information Office. We wish them a fun, fulfilling and memorable stay in Annecy.

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Two summer work placements are on offer to young people this summer to improve their French language ability and to gain confidence and experience by living and working in a different country.

Cheltenham Borough Council in conjunction with its French twin town are offering the opportunity of paid employment for 5 weeks within the Municipality of Annecy to two young people aged 18 years or over. A good level of French is desirable (A level) and is ideal for those wishing to improve their language before further studies at university, or wishing to brush up on their French to assist with job potential. The placements on offer are for the month of July and further details of the two posts can be found here.

Interested students should send the Twinning Officer their CV with a paragraph about why they would like this opportunity by 10 April. Selection and interviews will be held at the beginning of May.