Introduction
Wantage is twinned with Seesen in Germany and Mably in France
- What is Town Twinning all about ?
- Who organises Twinning ?
- How is Town Twinning Funded ?
- What kinds of activities take place ?
Information for Members
Twinning Association members can see much more information here
What Is Town Twinning All About?
Twinning is a formal connection with a community in another country, to build up contacts and to promote friendship and a better understanding of each other’s country, culture, language and national characteristics.
What Are The Benefits?
- Making friends and visiting each other (children and adults)
- Benefiting from the experiences of others
- Broadening our horizons by discovering other cultures
- Learning or improving a foreign language
- Helping to foster international understanding, and to promote peace
Who Organises Twinning ?
Twinning is organised through the Wantage, Grove and District Twinning Association.
How Is Twinning Funded ?
- Twinning is self-funded
- Individuals can join the Twinning Association for a nominal annual subscription
- Fund-raising events
- Local families usually host the twinning visitors
- Individuals bear the cost of their travel abroad, including councillors on official visits
- EU grants are sometimes available for specific events
What Kind Of Activities Take Place ?
- Parties of members visit the twin towns on alternate years
- The twin towns visit Wantage on alternate years
- Civic visits involving councillors and community representatives
- Members host students over 18 visiting their twin town for work experience
- Exhibitions and lectures are arranged to raise awareness of twinning
- The Association meets four times a year for business followed by a social event
- Other social events are held, including a joint Annual Dinner held in January
The Association helps to support incoming groups such as those involved in school exchanges, youth group exchanges, visits by football clubs, table tennis clubs etc, musical and dance troupes, depending on their needs. For example, the two Groups help organisations contact their opposite numbers in the twin towns, and will sometimes provide small grants towards specific events.
Please CLICK HERE to see a calendar of events or CLICK HERE for a list of available newsletters
Who Can Take Part ?
Anyone living, working or meeting in Wantage and Grove and the surrounding villages, or having a close connection with the area.
- individuals of all ages and interests
- schools
- clubs, societies and organisations
- businesses
Please CLICK HERE to apply for membership.
WANTAGE FRENCH TWINNING
Mably is the newest town to be twinned with Wantage and currently the only town twinned with Grove. The ceremonies took place in 1991 with officials from the three places signing the charter, a copy of which can be seen in the Civic Hall in Wantage and in the Old Mill Hall (Mervyn Shaw room) in Grove.
MABLY has a population 8,000, is in the Rhone-Alpes region, an area of outstanding natural beauty, adjacent to the city of Roanne in the department of Loire-Forez, and about 50 miles from Lyon. It is rural/residential with dairy farming and some industry. The immediate region has small mountain ranges, the Loire Gorge with its 30km lake, broad valley pastures and vineyards: the local wine is Roannaise, and the well-known Beaujolais region is just next door. Mably enjoys summers that are warm, dry and very sunny.
The Group will assist in any way it can groups of people wishing to visit Mably or be visited in turn by groups from Mably. Occasionally organized visits are arranged for anybody wishing to go.
WANTAGE GERMAN TWINNING
Seesen is in Lower Saxony, about 50 miles from Hannover, to the north-west of the Harz mountains, and is surrounded by wooded hills and rolling farmland. 23,000 people live in the town itself and the neighbouring villages, which are part of the administrative district of Seesen. It has a bustling town centre with many half-timbered houses and former farm buildings. With the decline of agriculture, the economy is now based primarily on the manufacture of cans for the food industry, on tourism and on the service sector.
http://www.stadtverwaltung-seesen.de/sehusa/sehusae.htm
The Association works in close collaboration with the Partnerschaftsverein in Seesen, which is eager to increase contact with individuals and groups in Wantage and Grove.
The day-to-day work of the Seesen twinning Group is carried out by a representative from the association, who are elected on an annual basis at the Annual General Meeting.
The principal activity of the Representative is the organising of visits to Seesen, and hosting people from Seesen and arranging programmes for their visit. We also assist individuals and families to make direct contact with people from our twin town, and we host students over 18 from Seesen who come to Wantage for work experience.
Other organisations in Wantage, such as the 4th. King Alfred’s Scout Group arrange exchange visits for their own members directly, but when they entertain visitors from Seesen our members may also act as hosts, and the Association provides some financial support for the programmes.