The very successful Peace Camp took place in Cheltenham this summer with young people from Göttingen and Wittenberg in Germany, Torun in Poland and Cheltenham coming together to enjoy a week of activities around the theme of sustainability.

The originally titled ‘Youth for Peace Camp’ was started in 1995 in Göttingen to mark 50 years of peace in Europe since the end of Word War II with Göttingen inviting young people from each of their twin towns to meet together. This presented the wonderful opportunity for inter-cultural learning and understanding from each other, based on programmes themed around a common topic, from climate change, the energy crisis, and the actual situation in Europe.

The celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the Peace Camp in 2020 had to be put on hold due to the pandemic and Cheltenham, with the fantastic support of Springbank Community Group, were delighted to host the first Peace Camp post pandemic.

The report, by Springbank Community Group, on the 2023 Peace Camp can be read here.

It is not unusual for local councillors with an interest in international relations to take part in visits to our twin towns to see what they can learn and then share that knowledge on their return. One such councillor did just that on the visit to Göttingen in September 2023 and the account of his programme is below. By the way, all councillors fund themselves these days, in case anyone was wondering!

”In my role as the Cheltenham Borough Council Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling I had asked our hosts in Göttingen whether it would be possible to spend some time during the exchange visit learning how they dealt with this important civic function. From my own personal experience of living in Germany some years ago I suspected it would be mutually informative and beneficial to swap notes. What I discovered was both interesting and reassuring.

I visited Göttingen’s equivalent of Cheltenham Borough Council’s Swindon Road Household Recycling Centre (HRC), and also its bio-waste (garden and kitchen) processing facility. I didn’t visit the equivalent of our new waste incinerator since, as is the case for us, this is operated by a higher-level local authority.

Their “HRC” was bigger and more spacious than our older site. It also included a staff canteen for bin lorry crews as well as those working on site. I shared a hearty stew with my hosts and discussed recycling (the word is the same in German!).

The bio-waste facility, which I visited the next day, paralleled similar sites at Stoke Orchard and elsewhere in Gloucestershire. Essentially, biodegradeable waste is recycled using fermentation into methane gas, which is then turned into electricity both to power the plant itself and also local homes. Compost emerges as the final output of the process.

Having visited more than one such modern plant in Gloucestershire, I noted the essential similarities between equipment used in both countries.

At the end of a fascinating tailored exchange programme my conclusion was that in recent years we have more or less closed the wide gap in waste and recycling processing that I had noted when living in Bavaria a quarter of a century ago. Indeed, Cheltenham currently recycles a wider range of materials/items than Göttingen.

In thanking my German equivalents, I offered in turn to host them on a similar visit to CBC/GCC Waste and Recycling facilities back in England.”

Such visits also give the opportunity for the twinning representatives to have business meetings to discuss future projects that can be considered for further collaboration between the two towns. A meeting was held in the Neues Rathaus (new Town Hall) on 26 September, where projects involving young people in a peace camp, sport and language exchange, climate emergency and sustainability were all discussed, as well as links between the festivals and other cultural events of both towns, and waste, recycling and other green initiatives of interest to both council administrations.

During the citizens group visit to Göttingen from 21-28 September 2023, the second edition of the book 13 Short Stories was launched.

At the Official Reception hosted by Petra Broistedt, Mayor of Göttingen, the author William Lewis read one of the stories and the translator Christiane Christen read it in German.  The evening was attended by the visiting group from Cheltenham and many twinning supporters from Göttingen.

This bi-lingual book of 13 More Short Stories followed on from the success of the first book published in July 2022 and was once again beautifully illustrated by members of the Göttingen Kreis 34 Art Club, who were present at the reception and thanked for their excellent work.

Another fantastic example of international co-operation and collaboration stemming from the long-standing link between the two towns.

The book, 13 More Short Stories by William Lewis, is available for purchase on Amazon in book and e-book formats. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Short-Stories-William-translations-German/dp/375781150X

William recently launched a podcast. It’s on Spotify and is called ‘Stories at Will’. Each episode lasts about 15 minutes and has two stories. You’ll find it at https://open.spotify.com/show/6PlwNTglD1BTHnAmNDzsy1

The City of Göttingen’s International Relations Officer, Frau Karin Ropeter, was presented with a citation scroll acknowledging her dedication and unstinting commitment to the twinning link between Cheltenham and Göttingen during over 40 years of service in the International Department of Stadt Göttingen.

The Mayor of Cheltenham, Cllr Matt Babbage, presented Karin Ropeter with the framed citation during the Official Reception held in Göttingen on Sunday 24 September as part of the welcome for the group of 40 citizens from Cheltenham. Many Göttingen supporters of twinning were also present.

In 1980, as an Admin Apprentice with Göttingen Council, Karin was asked to help out at short notice with a large incoming group of visitors from Cheltenham, because of her good knowledge of English. In 1981 she was a permanent fixture in the International Relations Office and has since overseen numerous visits and exchanges between not only Cheltenham, but Göttingen’s other twin cities as well. In December 2023, Karin will be retiring, although she says she will always remain connected to the twinning between Cheltenham and Göttingen, as she has many friends in the English twin town.

All her friends, colleagues and Twinning Association members wish Karin a very happy and healthy retirement and thank her for her invaluable support and friendship.

During the citizens visit to Göttingen in September 2023, the Deputy Mayor of Göttingen (an English teacher) asked if any of the group wished to to assist her in an English lesson she would be giving at the Juvenile Detention Centre in  Göttingen. Four willing volunteers stepped forward and armed with just their ID went along early one morning to assist in the hour and a half lesson to six young men aged between 19-22 years on remand there.

One of the Cheltenham guests who went along, commented:

”They had all prepared questions to ask us about ourselves. ‘How old are you?’ rather threw us, well it threw me! Of course they had to write down our answers, so sorting out how numbers are expressed in English was helpful to them. Another very interesting question was what rule do you enjoy breaking? None of us could think of one!! Some had considerably more English than others and all were fascinated at our drinking black tea without sugar.

During their break we were shown the greenhouse where they grow plants for the Municipal Gardens. I, perhaps foolishly, asked one of them what job he had done previously and he replied ‘criminal’. Well, that told me!

They were all very nice young men and one can only hope that the (very) open young offenders prison in Göttingen will be their only experience of life ‘inside’. I use my souvenir ‘prison’ mug and think of them.”  

Well done to the four volunteers, who all found the experience quite fascinating and interesting and not an activity one would normally be offered on a regular trip overseas. Benefits of international twinning links!

On a lovely sunny September morning in Göttingen, the co-founder of the Cheltenham Göttingen Youth Sports Exchange was remembered with the unveiling of a plaque in his honour at the Göttingen Sports Centre’s Guest House.

Phillip Gordon ‘Jasper’ Cook founded the exchange of young sports people between the two twin towns in 1967 together with Göttingen sportsman Peter Morgenstern. Over the years they enabled the exchange of hundreds of youngsters in sporting fixtures, mainly football. Jasper visited Göttingen so many times during his life, that he called it his second home. In 2013 he was awarded a certificate of appreciation for his dedication over the years. Sadly he passed away in 2020.

The plaque was unveiled by Cllr Diggory Seacome (Chairman of the Twinning Committee) and also by Cllr Iain Dobie who was on that first visit in 1967, despite professing to have no football skills whatever!!

The unveiling was a poignant part of the programme for the group of Cheltenham visitors in the German twin town from 22-27 September 2023 and many of the group were present to mark the occasion.