‘They’ were three delightful people from Toussus le Noble, the village near Versailles in France that wants to develop friendship links with Duxford. They came and stayed in the village on the last weekend in January, saw the village, St John’s Church, the IWM, Cambridge and Ely, and most importantly met teachers and children in the school, Arwen Gilbert and the SaturdayWorkshop enthusiasts, and Chris Mogg of Duxford Massive youth group.
We had a small reception for them one evening, where they met a number of villagers, and on another evening Bernard Lee generously provided hospitality at the John Barleycorn.
The three of them, Gerard Finan, a local businessman, Corinne Saunier, a Parish Councillor, and Aicha Borges (one of three Assistants to the Parish Clerk!) left saying that they really wanted the links between our two villages to develop, and thanked everyone for the warm welcome that had been given to them. The SaturdayWorkshop wants to keep in touch, the school (see the article by Suzanne Blackburne-Maze) are already developing links, and the youth group wants to correspond. There are great possibilities for a really worthwhile link for children and adults if more people are interested, and are willing to help.
It has taken some time for things to get off the ground, but we think that now the time is right to see if this is what people really want. At the Annual Parish Meeting on 22 March we will be updating the village about links with Toussus and asking for support from anyone with an interest in developing these links, either as individuals or as representatives of village clubs and organisations. We don’t think that a very formal twinning committee is necessary, but we need to take things step by step, develop links and see what comes out of them. The young
people have already taken a lead; we need to see what the adults want as well. There are all sorts of possibilities, from finding out what other villages do with their overseas village links, to future exchange visits. We need to start somewhere, so do come along on 22 March, at 7.30pm and find out more. And who knows, perhaps you will be inspired to get involved.
John Holme
Jenny Marks
We had a small reception for them one evening, where they met a number of villagers, and on another evening Bernard Lee generously provided hospitality at the John Barleycorn.
The three of them, Gerard Finan, a local businessman, Corinne Saunier, a Parish Councillor, and Aicha Borges (one of three Assistants to the Parish Clerk!) left saying that they really wanted the links between our two villages to develop, and thanked everyone for the warm welcome that had been given to them. The SaturdayWorkshop wants to keep in touch, the school (see the article by Suzanne Blackburne-Maze) are already developing links, and the youth group wants to correspond. There are great possibilities for a really worthwhile link for children and adults if more people are interested, and are willing to help.
It has taken some time for things to get off the ground, but we think that now the time is right to see if this is what people really want. At the Annual Parish Meeting on 22 March we will be updating the village about links with Toussus and asking for support from anyone with an interest in developing these links, either as individuals or as representatives of village clubs and organisations. We don’t think that a very formal twinning committee is necessary, but we need to take things step by step, develop links and see what comes out of them. The young
people have already taken a lead; we need to see what the adults want as well. There are all sorts of possibilities, from finding out what other villages do with their overseas village links, to future exchange visits. We need to start somewhere, so do come along on 22 March, at 7.30pm and find out more. And who knows, perhaps you will be inspired to get involved.
John Holme
Jenny Marks
Duxford Chatterbox march 2010
