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.

Proposed visit to Weihai 2012

Cheltenham Borough Council together with the Weihai Link, is exploring the possibility of a visit to Weihai next April 2012 and combining it with visits to Beijing and Shanghai/Xian or Hong Kong.  The visit is open to anyone who is interested in visiting our twin town and the trip would be fully self-funded.

Various itinerary options and prices are available.  Download details of proposed trip to China including Weihai.   Anyone wishing to register their interest should email : twinning@cheltenham.gov.uk

60th Anniversary Visit Reunion

A get together will be held on Wednesday 19 October for all participants in the 60th anniversary visit to Göttingen that took place in August this summer.  Bring photos and CDs to share and come along and meet up with friends again.

Youngsters who took part in the International Youth for Peace camp in Torun this summer will also do a short presentation.

Time :  7 for 7.30pm – 9pm

Venue :  Committee Suite, Municipal Offices, Promenade

Göttingen Youth Sports Group

From Monday 17 to Tuesday 25 October, 30 youngsters from Göttingen will be in Cheltenham on the youth sport exchange.  They are all staying with local families and will be participating in a programme of sporting activities and sight seeing excursions with trips to London, Gloucester, Clearwell caves and Oxford planned.

Quiz Evening

The quiz evening held  at the Little Owl on 30 September raised a fantastic £201 for the Twinning Association to help young people participate in international events.  Thanks to our challenging quiz master and everyone who came along and supported the event.

Fete du Lac in Annecy

Delegation in Annecy

At the end of a busy week in Göttingen, the Mayor accompanied by the Twinning Officer made their way from Göttingen to Annecy for the annual fete du lac on Saturday 6 August.  They were joined in Annecy by the council’s head of finance and healthy communities manager who made contacts and saw first hand the facilities Annecy has to offer, particularly in the area of sport.

Summer Work Placements Annecy / Cheltenham

On Monday 4 July, three students from Cheltenham started work in Annecy for four weeks on the summer work placement scheme organised between the two councils.  Two girls worked with the parks and gardens team and one girl worked in the youth information office.  The students stayed in a hostel along with other young people from Annecy’s twin towns and had the opportunity to join in the many events that took place in Annecy during their stay.  

Then in August three young lads from Annecy came to Cheltenham to work for the council, two working in the parks and gardens division and one in integrated transport working on a cycling project.  All benefited from their stay and enjoyed the experience of being in an English town.