Yearbook 2017/18 http://llandrindodtwinning.wordpress.com/
Llandrindod Wells & Area Twinning Association
Llandrindod Wells
Golf Club
SUNDAY LUNCH The Great British Tradition
We are now serving Sunday Lunches in the Clubhouse with a choice of starters Sumptuous, freshly roasted meats with fresh vegetables & yummy deserts
Choice of Main Course or 2 Course Lunch
Come and have lunch and savour the best views in Llandrindod
We look forward to welcoming you all Please telephone Simon and Beth to book
01597 823873
Tables available from 12-3pm
Llandrindod Wells & Area Twinning Association A Message from our Chairman Welcome to our 2017/18 Yearbook where you can read about the activities of Llandrindod Wells and Area Twinning Association over the past twelve months. 2017/18 was a very busy and successful year for the Twinning Association and I thank all those supporters who worked hard in fundraising and hosting that enabled us to once again make such a success of the many visits we have hosted and enabled to and from Bad Rappenau and Contrexéville. We rely on the generosity of families in and around Llandrindod to host our visitors from Bad Rappenau and Contrexeville and without their support we could not operate our Twinning Association. I have now served five years as Chairman of the Twinning Association and in accordance with the constitution must stand down. Our new Chairman is Shanaz Dorkenoo who is supported by a new Committee of enthusiastic and hardworking members listed on page 14. One thing that I am proud of over the past five years is the very successful youth exchange visits we have organized and supported – Schools, Scouts, Youth Football, Youth Choir and Erasmus+ youth groups. Despite not now being able to secure European Union Erasmus+ Grants I hope that we will continue to promote and organize school and youth exchanges in the future. This has been a busy and successful year and we look forward to an equally successful year in 2018/19. I wish our new Chairman every success and know that we will all do everything we can to give support.
With Best wishes for 2018
Rob Shelton
Each year the front cover of the Twinning Yearbook features important buildings that can be found in each of the three twinned towns. The cover this year shows the fire stations in Contrexéville, Llandrindod Wells, and Bad Rappenau. As can be seen on page 9, the firemen in Contrexéville, the “sapeurspompiers”, played a major role in the 14 July parade
Jan Feb Mar Annual Dinner On Saturday 14 January sixteen members of the Twinning Association gathered at the Three Wells Hotel in Howey for a pre-dinner champagne before enjoying a delicious three-course post Christmas meal with all the trimmings. An enjoyable time was had by all in pleasant surroundings. At the end of the evening chairman, Rob Shelton, thanked the staff for the excellent meal and service.
The Three Wells Hotel
Skittles and Chips On the last Saturday in January the Twinning Association, with the assistance of twinning supporters Vic Everill and Ann Harmon, organised a skittles and chips fundraising and social evening at the Royal British Legion Club in Llandrindod Wells. Halfway through the competition the 45 contestants took a break to enjoy a tasty fish and chip supper. The event raised over ÂŁ150 from entrance fees and a raffle the prizes for which were donated by members of the committee.
The Twinning Association is grateful to all the local businesses who have placed adverts in the 2017-18 Yearbook. Without their generous support this publication would not be possible
Apr May Jun 25th Anniversary Celebrations The twenty-fifth anniversary of the signing of the twinning charter between Llandrindod Wells and Contrexéville was celebrated in May. Twenty two guests from Contrexéville and eight from Bad Rappenau completed a threeday stay in Mid Wales. The groups were welcomed by Llandrindod’s Town Crier, Jan Swindale, at a reception in the Hotel Commodore where they met their hosts, all twinning supporters, who provided bed and breakfast accommodation for the visitors in their homes for the duration of the milestone visit.
Guests & hosts at the lake side
Our youngest guest
The Twinning Association organised a number of excursions for the guests. On the first day the visitors from Bad Rappenau enjoyed a day out at the award winning Judge’s Lodging, Presteigne, where they explored Victorian life above and below stairs. A particular delight was photographing each other in masks and costumes provided by this “hands on museum”. Following an enjoyable al fresco lunch in the sunshine the group explored Hergest Croft Gardens near Kington, and were smitten by the azaleas and woodland plants. On the following day the visitors from Contrexéville and Bad Rappenau were accompanied by some of their hosts for a sunny day out to Aberystwyth. After exploring the Elan Valley Visitor Centre the group moved on to Devil’s Bridge to board a steam train on the Vale of Rheidol Railway for the trip down to Aberystwyth. In Aberystwyth they enjoyed walks along the promenade and traditional fish and chips. On their return journey to Llandrindod the group stopped in Llanidloes to eat a delightful evening meal together at the Angel Inn.
Jan Feb Mar The third day was spent exploring Brecon and taking a trip on the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal after which the group returned to Llandrindod Wells for the main event of the visit, a celebration dinner at the Golf Club which was attended by the mayor, Jon Williams, and sixty guests from Wales, France and Germany. Rob Shelton, Chairman of Llandrindod Twinning Association, spoke about the close friendship and collaboration between the communities over the past 25 years. He stated that twinning is important as it offers opportunities, especially to our young people, to travel and widen understanding between the diverse communities and to accept and offer friendship in return. He presented British rose bushes to Babette Simonin, President of Contrexéville Twinning Association and Sibylle Hummel, President of Bad Rappenau Twinning Association to be planted in “Friendship Gardens” in both towns. The anniversary cake
Guests & hosts at the dinner In response Babette Simonin spoke about the numerous visits between the two communities over the past twenty five years – school groups, youth groups, bands, choirs, fishing clubs and many others. She looked forward to many more years of exchanges between the towns, particularly young people and school groups. Babette Simonin and Sibylle Hummel made presentations to Llandrindod Committee members and gave special thanks to the host families for their generous hospitality during the visit. Both felt the celebrations had been a great success. Before their journey home the Mayor, Councillor Jon Williams, thanked the visiting groups for making the long journey to Wales and wished them a safe journey home. He made a special presentation of antique Contrexéville spa water bottles to the presidents of the three Twinning Associations. The bottles symbolised empty vessels that in the future can be filled with more friendship and collaboration between the twin towns.
Jul Aug Sep Visit to Contrexéville The 25th anniversary celebrations of the signing of the twinning charter with Contrexéville continued in July when a group of Llandrindod twinners travelled by train and car to France to commemorate this milestone occasion. The celebrations also marked the 35th anniversary of twinning between Bad Rappenau, Germany, and Contrexéville, the two towns that share twinning agreements with Llandrindod Wells. Luc Gerecke, Mayor of Contrexéville welcomed twelve delegates from Llandrindod Wells led by the Mayor, Councillor Jon Williams, and thirty delegates from Bad Rappenau led by the Bűrgermeister, Hans Heribert Blättgen, at a reception in the Town Hall. The weekend’s events started with a parade and ceremony marking the French National Holiday. This was followed by lunch. That evening the visitors joined a very large crowd to enjoy a spectacular fireworks display at a beautiful lakeside setting in Contrexéville. The following day the three mayors planted a rose bush, presented by Llandrindod Twinning to mark the 25th anniversary, in a Friendship Garden at Contrexéville Primary School. All three mayors spoke about the friendships that had been forged between the three towns over the past twenty five years,
Guests and hosts
The main event of the visit was a Celebration Lunch attended by the mayors of all three towns and sixty guests and supporters from France, Wales and Germany. Babette Simonin,President of ContrexĂŠville Twinning Association presented gifts to the officers of all three twinning associations. Rob Shelton, Chairman of Llandrindod Twinning Association and Sibylle Hummel, President of Bad Rappenau Twinning Association, thanked their French hosts for the hospitality shown to the visiting delegates and both looked forward to many more years of successful twinning exchanges. On their final day the visitors from Llandrindod were accompanied by their hosts for a sunny day out to Xaronval, a small 19 century historic village, where they visited an old bakery, toy museum, traditional farm and enjoyed a traditional meal together at an old farm restaurant.
Luc Gerecke and Jon Williams
Before the journey home the Mayor, Councillor Jon Williams, thanked the French hosts for their hospitality and for making the visit so interesting and enjoyable for all the guests from Llandrindod Wells. He made a special presentation of wooden bowls produced by a craftsman in Llandrindod Wells to the mayors ContrexĂŠville and Bad Rappenau to commemorate the anniversary. He looked forward to many more cultural exchanges in the next quarter century.
The 14th July Parade
Town twinning is an agreement of goodwill made between two or more towns, of similar size and character, in different countries. They sign a charter to foster friendship and goodwill. Reciprocal visits foster personal friendships and mutual understanding. By visiting a twin town, staying with a family and discussing things of mutual interest, we discover what we have in common and learn to understand and enjoy our cultural differences.
About Twinning The aims of the Twinning Association The Association wants to make twinning accessible to all sectors of our community and would like to hear from any local group wishing to make an exchange visit. These are some of the areas in which we would like to see exchange visits being arranged : • education, training and work experience • culture, music and the arts • sport and recreation • business and tourism development • social visits We particularly wish to support exchanges involving young people.
How is the Association run?
How can I get involved? There are no limits to the extent to which the twinning programme can be developed for the benefit of our community. We look to local residents and groups to put forward ideas, so that the programme can reflect the needs and wishes of the community. If you can offer
The Twinning Association is an independent organisation and relies on the energy and enthusiasm of local residents to make the programme work. A small committee of volunteers runs the twinning programme and keeps in regular contact with our counterparts in Contrexéville and Bad Rappenau. The committee is supported by a number of working groups dealing with matters such as fundraising, publicity and hospitality.
How is twinning funded?
Our Twin Towns We signed a twinning charter with the small spa town of Contrexéville in 1992. It is located in a region of low mountains called the Vosges, a rural area sharing many features with Radnorshire. Contrexéville was itself twinned with the German spa town of Bad Rappenau situated near Heidelberg. In 2001 Llandrindod Wells and Bad Rappenau signed a formal twinning charter .
The Association’s activities are funded almost exclusively from local voluntary contributions. The Association also receives grant support from Llandrindod Wells Town Council and has sougt grant aid from the European Commission for specific projects. However, we rely almost exclusively on the efforts of our fundraising working group in order to meet the cost of receiving visiting groups, relying on local families to provide hospitality. Additional funds are needed for the receptions and social gatherings which we arrange whilst visitors are here. These events provide excellent opportunities for visitors and local people to meet.
Groups and people travelling abroad are responsible for your help on a regular or seasonal basis, funding their own transport costs. for example by helping with fundraising or The Association assists groups to find accommodation through our by putting up visitors in your home, this counterparts in Contrexéville and will help to enlarge and expand our twinning links. This provides opportunities Bad Rappenau. to get involved with your local community and with the French and German visitors. Opportunities will then arise for visiting Contrexéville and Bad Rappenau at the cost of a bus or air ticket and some presents for your host family.
If you are interested in getting involved in twinning then please contact the Twinning Association's Chairman or any other committee member listed on page 14. Our email address is: llandodtwinning@yahoo.com
German Scouts Visit Llandrindod Wells
In August a group of fifteen scouts from Bad Rappenau visited Wales. They were hosted by Llandrindod Wells Scouts at a camp in Howey where the young people from both towns camped together. In 2014 a group of Scouts from Llandrindod Wells had enjoyed a week in Germany camping with the Bad Rappenau Scouts, and this visit had been organised as a reciprocal exchange.
On their first evening the visitors enjoyed a skittles evening and meal at the Rock Park Heritage Centre. The Scouts were welcomed by Llandrindod’s Mayor, Councillor Jon Williams, who hoped they would enjoy their stay in Mid Wales and consolidate friendships forged when the two groups first met in 2014. He was pleased that through the twinning links groups of young people were able to experience and share cultural exchanges and raise awareness of the similarities and differences of our nations. A full programme of activities had been organised by Llandrindod Scouts for their guests from Germany. On their first full day the scouts experienced an exhilarating day kayaking and cycling in the Elan Valley before returning to their campsite for an evening meal prepared by volunteers from Llandrindod Twinning Association. The following day they travelled to Cardiff for two nights stay at the Llandaff Scout Hut, exploring the city and local attractions including St Fagan’s National Museum and the beach at Barry Island. The scouts were given thanks and praise from the Mayor of Barry for their gallant effort in picking up litter from the beach after their day’s stay.
The group with hosts and mayor Jon Williams On their return to Mid Wales the scouts travelled to the Brecon Beacons to climb Pen-y-Fan and spent two days walking along the coast path between Cardigan and Aberystwyth. The German scouts thoroughly enjoyed their first trip to Wales and thanked everyone for making their visit so enjoyable. With friendships reinforced, the two scout groups looked forward to further exchange visits in future years.
Charity ShopSale Over the third week in September the Twinning Association hired the Charity Shop in Middleton Street for a fundraising sale of goods donated by twinning supporters and townsfolk. A wide range of items were sold including clothing, books, toys, bric a brac, a vintage sewing machine and designer glassware. At the end of the week unsold items were donated to Oxfam. The shop was manned by committee members and helpers. A substantial sum was raised and the shop has been booked for another sale in 2018, for which donations will be gratefully received.
Hygeia Badges In Greek and Roman mythology Hygeia was the daughter of the god of medicine. She was the goddess of health, cleanliness and sanitation, and was associated with the prevention of sickness. Her image, used previously on Llandrindod Wells souvenir wares, has been adopted by the Association as our logo and features on 20mm x 15mm enamelled metal badges that we have for sale at only ÂŁ1.50 each.
Oct Nov Dec Annual General Meeting The 2017 Annual General Meeting, postponed from earlier in the autumn, was held in the Hotel Commodore on 15th November. After agreeing the minutes of the 2016 AGM the outgoing chairman, Rob Shelton, presented his report on the past year. He thanked evryone for their support during his five year tenure, the maximum period allowed in the Association's constitution, and summarised the events that had taken place in his final year as chairman. He praised the generosity of families, in and around Llandrindod, to host visitors from Bad Rappenau and ContrexĂŠville. Without their support the Association could not operate. As well as thanking members of the committee, he thanked Town Mayor Jon Williams who, with his family, has given unstinted support to Twinning and has represented Llandrindod so positively in exchange visits to and from our twin towns. He stated that the Twinning Assocation relies on the support of the Town Council and that Jon had proved an exceptional ambassador for Town Twinning. In his closing remarks he expressed his pride in the very successful youth exchange visits that the Association organized and supported over the past five years, schools, scouts, youth football, youth choir and Erasmus+ youth exchanges, and looked forward to another successful year under the Association's new chair. The treasurer, Edmund Coady, then presented his financial report for the year ending 31 December 2016. The following officers and committee members were elected: Chair
Vice-Chair
Treasurer
Publicity Sec
Fundraising Sec
Shanaz Dorkenoo
Joyce Hope
Edmund Coady
Rob Shelton
Barb Shelton
Hosting Sec
Secretary
German Liaison Town Council Representatives
Martine Saunders
Vacant
Elsbeth Vipond
Jon Williams
Elaine Worgan
Remembrance Service
On Sunday 11 November treasurer, Edmund Coady, represented the Twinning Association at the Remembrance Day Service in Llandrindod Wells, taking part in the procession from the Royal British Legion Club to the war memorial in Town Hall Gardens, where he placed a wreath commemorating the fallen in the two world wars and subsequent conflicts.
Adventskaffee Visit to Bad Rappenau Christmas is celebrated in Germany with many traditions, one of them being "Adventskaffee". Coffee and cake are taken in the afternoon with family and friends in a quiet and cozy setting, candles and Christmas incense burning. This time is usually set aside to take a break from every day demands and to reflect on what the season is about. At the end of the first week in December a small group from Llandrindod Wells flew to Stuttgart to participate in the "Adventskaffee" celebrations in Bad Rappenau. They were picked up at the airport and driven to their host families in Llandrindod's twin town. On the morning of Friday 8 December the group travelled by train to the historic university town of Heidelberg, on the river Neckar, to visit the Christmas market and the old town centre with its castle, old stone bridge, church and other ancient buildings. They returned to Bad Rappenau in late afternoon for a visit to the library which was followed by dinner in a local restaurant. The next day everyone travelled to the Christmas Market in the nearby medieval town of Bad Wimpen. That evening the visitors were entertained at a gospel concert in Bonfeld, a village on the outskirts of Bad Rappenau. The early part of Sunday was spent at the Christmas market in Heilbronn. That afternoon guests, hosts and members of the small French delegation took Adventskaffee in the Wasserschloss, a moated castle dating back to 1601, located in a beautiful park in the centre of Bad Rappenau. This was followed by an evening meal when the visitors met the new Ober BĂźrgermeister Herr Frei. Before travelling to Stuttgart for the afternoon flight back to the UK, Monday morning was spent with the host families.
Members of the group enjoying Heidelberg Christmas Market
Christmas Tree Festival Between 20 December and 31 December a Community Christmas Tree Festival was held in Holy Trinity Church. Community groups, including the Twinning Association, raised awareness of their organisations by providing and decorating artificial trees. The festival, reintroduced by Rev Perrin, attracted forty three contributors. The twinning tree was decorated by Joyce and Derek Hope, Barbara and Rob Shelton, and Edmund and Anna Coady.
Library Display In the autumn, committee member Martine Saunders raised the profile of the Twinning Association, and our twin towns of ContrexĂŠville and Bad Rappenau, by mounting a twinning exhibition in one of the display cases in Llandrindod Wells Library.
The Twinning Tree
The Twinning Exhibition in the Library
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Forthcoming Events in 2018 Amongst the twinning activities being planned for 2018 are: 21-28 April: Community Charity Shop Sale
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HOTEL C OMMODORE SPA ROAD, LLANDRINDOD WELLS, LD1 5ER
26-29 July: Invitation to a youth group from Llandrindod Wells to the holiday programme in Bad Rappenau 4-5 August: Invitation for a group from Llandrindod Wells to attend the Neckarfest in Bad Rapenau 4-8 September: Group from Bad Rappenau visit Llandrindod Wells 6 December: “Adventskaffee� in Bad Rappenau
www.hotelcommodore.co.uk info@hotelcommodore.co.uk 44(0)1597 822 288