Twinners flocked to see Olympic Torch celebrations

Over 75 twinning visitors from our five twin towns came to Cheltenham to join in celebrating the Olympic torch coming to Cheltenham. The delegation included 20 officials from across our 5 twin towns and 13 members of the Lubo dance ensemble from Sochi, Russia.

Other visitors here for the torch relay on 23 May included 32 guests from our German twin town on a tourist trip, nine students from the Heinrich Boll School in Göttingen visiting Bettridge school, as well as two leaders from the Göttingen youth sport exchange.

Various events were organised during the four day visit from Monday 21  to Thursday 24 May,  including a guided tour of the town, a reception with the Mayor, a coach tour around the Cotswolds and a trip on the steam train.   A workshop was also arranged for the morning of Thursday 24 May to give delegates the opportunity to promote themselves and their business and tourism links to local businesses.  However, the highlight of the trip was to see the torch passing through Cheltenham and arrive at the racecourse carried by the Queen’s granddaughter, Zara Phillips.   The Lubo dance ensemble presented a special dance performance as part of the celebrations at the racecourse as well.

It was an unique occasion having representatives from all of our twin towns here at the same time  and demonstrates just how strong our international links are and it was wonderful to be able to share this once-in-a-life-time event with them.

See our picture gallery for photos of the event.

Successful Weihai trip

Fourteen local residents and business leaders had a very successful trip to Weihai, Cheltenham’s Chinese twin town at the beginning of April.   Their aim was to promote Cheltenham from a business and educational point of view. It is hoped the self funded trip will have created excellent business, educational and tourism relationships.

The trip included visits to:

  • The Weihai campus of the Harbin Institute of Technology
  • Wego Group – a large manufacturer and direct supplier of medical equipment
  • Weihai Jiguan Kindergarten and Huancui International Middle School
  • The Sunshine Centre, training adults with learning difficulties to achieve employment and return to their families
  • Liugong Island, with a trip to see the pandas.

The Mayor of Cheltenham said that the visit gave a great insight into the wonderful cultural differences between Cheltenham and Weihai which would help develop the twinning link and the Chief Executive said that despite the vast difference in population of the two towns, the visit enabled the group to build good relations in person and to set the agenda for working together in the future.   Representatives from Gloucestershire College and Cheltenham Ladies College also took part in the visit and made valuable links.

Look in the Weihai photo gallery for pictures of the visit.

Anyone interested in establishing links with Weihai should contact twinning@cheltenham.gov.uk

Göttingen apprentices say farewell

Laura and Martina from Göttingen said farewell to the Mayor of Cheltenham at the end of April after a successful 6 week work placement at the Borough Council.   The two girls are undertaking a 3 year apprenticeship with Göttingen City Council and were able to spend time with the urban design and integrated transport teams under a new EU funded project between the two twin towns.   The girls gained a great deal of knowledge and experience at the council and spoke fluently by the end of their stay.  They are the first of several apprentices that Cheltenham Borough Council will be welcoming and other apprentices have been placed with local companies.

Bridge between our twin towns

Bridge players from our twin towns of Annecy and Göttingen were invited by Cheltenham Bridge Club for an international tournament over the Jubilee weekend.  The 8 visitors from Annecy and 12 from Göttingen arrived on 31 May and were welcomed by the Mayor of Cheltenham on 1 June in the council offices before they headed off for a bridge competition in the afternoon.    A busy weekend of events around the Cotswolds was arranged for the visitors and their hosts, culminating in a Jubilee style dinner.  Further pictures can  be seen on Cheltenham Bridge Club’s website.

Visit to Weihai – April 2012

A trip to Weihai, Cheltenham’s Chinese twin town, is being organised by the Weihai Link group from 2-12 April this year.  The visit will include 3 full days in Weihai, where a programme will be organised by our colleagues, who will show the sights and culture of the city.  The itinerary also includes time in Xian and Beijing.  The cost is £1,840 per person and anyone interested should complete the  booking form.  This is a fabulous opportunity to take part in an unique visit to China and experience life in Weihai. The trip is open to all!

Funds for twinning!

Cheltenham Twinning Association has a pot of funding worth £9,000 to support young people taking part in twinning activities with our twin and friendship towns and we are now inviting applications to this fund. We would like to inspire groups of young people from school year 6, up to 25 years of age, to take part in twinning activities that will make a positive difference to them and the communities they live in. Grants are available from £500 up to £1,500.

The guidelines and criteria for applying for this funding are set out here together with the expression of interest application form in pdf and word  formats.    The closing date is Friday 13 January 2012.

Twins invited to Olympic Torch Stopover

An invitation has been sent to our 5 twin and 2 friendship towns inviting them to come to Cheltenham to take part in the celebrations on Wednesday 23 May when the Olympic torch will come to town. Visitors will be taken to the racecourse to see the staged show and arrival of the Olympic flame. Young people from our twin towns are being encouraged to attend – to promote their city and to participate in a wide range of events with local youngsters, that will be taking place throughout the day.

Kisumu school link

A group of 12 senior students from Balcarras School spent their October half term experiencing life at their Kenyan partner school in Kisumu. This was the first pupil visit to the St Aloy Gem Secondary school where the students spent 5 days getting to know the pupils and staff in a truly life changing experience. Balcarras School hope a return visit to Cheltenham will take place in the spring next year. Photos of the visit can be seen on Balcarras School website.