On Saturday 9 July 4 young people and their leader set off for Torun in Poland, which is one of Göttingen’s twin towns, to participate in the annual international youth for peace camp. They will be there for a week and will participate in a programme entitled ‘Future of Volunteering – Think Globally, Act Locally’, along with young people from Göttingen’s other twin towns.
Göttingen Sport / Language Visit
14 youngsters and 2 leaders arrived in Cheltenham on Saturday 9 July on the sport and language visit. The group are here for 11 days until Wednesday 20 July and do language learning and sporting activities using the facilities at leisure@ as well as visits to South Cerney Water sports centre, Berkeley castle, London and Stratford. They all stay with local families.
Handel Festival in Göttingen
The Chief Executive and his wife have just returned from a private visit to Göttingen, where they attended the final concert of this year’s Handel Festival. It was particularly special this year as it was the last year that Prof Nicholas McGegan, conductor of the Göttingen Festival Orchestra, would be taking part after 20 years. He was awarded the Göttingen Medal of Honour at a reception after the concert.
Visit to Annecy Film Festival and Working Meeting
The Chairman and Twinning Officer have just returned from a brief 2 day visit to Annecy where current and future twinning activities were discussed and planned. There is a busy flow of exchanges this summer between the 2 towns, with many Annecy students coming to Cheltenham and 2 groups of young musicians going to Annecy, amongst others. Further details will be conveyed as each exchange happens.
Whilst in Annecyt he international animated film festival was taking place and we were invited to the closing awards ceremony of the festival. Not quite Cannes (yet) – but nevertheless Annecy’s equivalent and it might well be of that status in years to come, as this film festival is rapidly growing in international recognition with films from Russia, USA, Japan, UK and Europe being shown and amongst the prize winners. We were amazed at the scale of this event – for a week films are shown at a range of venues in Annecy, but the most impressive are the open air films shown daily on an enormous screen on the Paquier – a large grassed area by the side of the lake – watched by hundreds of people sitting on the grass with their picnics! The awards ceremony was followed by a reception, with free food and drink, for some 1200 people in marques in the grounds of the Imperial Hotel. Annecy certainly know how to do things in style!
There is also a great buzz of anticipation amongst the residents and officials of Annecy council, as they up their profile in the final few weeks in their bid to become the host city for the 2018 winter Oympics. The result will be announced on 6 July 2011 and Annecy is a contender along with Munich and a city in South Korea. We wish Annecy the best of luck!!
Subsequent to this visit, Annecy failed in their Olympic bid.
Cheltenham College Junior Choir Visit to Annecy
The picture below shows the 28 children from the Cheltenham College Junior chapel choir, together with parents and leaders, under the direction of the Head of Music at the College, Peter Mills, at their reception at the Hotel de Ville on Tuesday 5 July. They were in Annecy from 4-8 July and performed a concert at the St Maurice church on Thursday 7 July.
Visit to Stampersgat
A group of 32 people including 4 of Cheltenham’s Aldermen, visited our Dutch friendship link town of Stampersgat from 2-5 June to mark the 40th anniversary of the first visit of a group of Stampersgat residents to Cheltenham in 1971.
The link was established by the Gloucestershire Regiment who liberated this small town and where Corporal Dennis Lee is buried in the church there. Now organised by the Stampersgat / Cheltenham Friendship link committee, a programme of events was planned for the group, who all stayed with families.
Can you help? Accommodation needed for Göttingen visitors
We’re still looking for homestay accommodation for Göttingen students visiting Cheltenham this summer. The students will be taking part in a sport and language group visit between 9 and 20 July.
If you can help by offering accommodation to a student, please get in touch with the the Cheltenham Twinning Officer at twinning@cheltenham.gov.uk
60th Anniversary visit to Göttingen
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Cheltenham’s twinning link with Göttingen, over 100 people will be taking part in a visit to the German town between 29 July and 5 August.
Visitors will be welcomed with a reception from the Mayor of Göttingen, Wolfgang Meyer. A full programme of events will include a guided tour through the historical old town of Göttingen, as well as day trips to places of interest and a twinning party.
The visit follows a successful visit of over 200 Göttingen citizens to Cheltenham in 2009 .
The trip will provide visitors with the perfect opportunity to get to know Cheltenham’s German twin town and learn about the German way of life, make new friends and develop cultural links between clubs, societies and various interest groups. The visit will also be a great opportunity to develop business links and professional contacts.
Stampersgat visit marks 40 years of friendship link
Cheltenham and Stampersgat residents will be getting together from 2-5 June to mark the 40th anniversary of the first visit of a group of Stampersgat residents to Cheltenham in 1971. 
Cheltenham Twinning Association AGM 2011
The association’s 2011 Annual General Meeting took place at 6pm on Tuesday 24 May at the Municipal Offices.
For more details please contact the Cheltenham Twinning Officer at twinning@cheltenham.gov.uk .
Cheltenham International Partnerships 