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Chairman's Report October 2009
Mr Deputy Mayor, Members of the Committee and my fellow Twinners, I am
pleased to welcome you to our 2009 AGM, my 6th as your Chairman!
A busy year
Another busy year for the Association. As is our tradition, we started the New
Year with a delicious hot dinner and raffle here in St Lawrence’s Hall. In
March, we were happy to welcome a party of student teachers from L’UFM in Laon.
This has always been one of our most popular and successful Twinning projects
and we were very happy when we were asked to participate this year. We were
lucky enough to have the new organiser, Corinne, staying with us. She is a real
live wire and we had a great time. Another person to visit when we are next in
Laon! The students had an excellent week both in schools and with their host
families. The week started and finished at Chris Slattery’s house, with a fun
‘Bring and Share’ evening on the Saturday. If you would like to be involved in
the next student week, please let the Committee know.
Visitors from Laon
At the very start of May, we welcomed a party of ‘proper’ Twinners from Laon. We
had a great weekend together with good weather. Saturday saw a packed Littleton
Hall full of English and French Barn dancers, with a brilliant band and caller!
Sunday was busy with a visit to Hillier Gardens, ploughman’s lunch and then an
amazing Birds of Prey display at the Hawk Conservancy. Our thanks go to the
committee members who organised the Sunday outing whilst we were away in Canada.
Although we had less pomp and circumstance than in previous years, we did have
more free time over the weekend to be with our guests. The presence of Dominic
Hiscock and his wife at the Barn Dance made it an ‘official’ weekend with some
time for speeches and exchange of gifts. We very much enjoyed getting to know
Philippe Bourgeois and his wife Clodie – I think the game of Monopoly on the
Sunday evening sealed our friendship; of course, the newly retired banker,
Philippe, had to be in charge of the money! The summer has been, as usual,
quiet, with an even quieter response for the Littleton Hall picnic in September.
We had to cancel it due to poor numbers.
Next year
We are looking forward to our visit to Laon on Friday 30th April to Monday 3rd
May. We are hoping to apply for a grant from Winchester City Council to help
with transport costs. As always, if you have any ideas or thoughts about
projects/outings/activities for the Twinning Association please talk to one of
your committee members and share your thoughts.
A huge thanks
Two final points. Firstly, a huge thank you to the committee for all their hard
work this year. We couldn't survive without you. If anyone is interested or
available, the Association is in need of a treasurer to take over from Harry and
as Secretary from Mike. We are also very pleased to welcome Richard Osmond onto
the team. Secondly, we have received a lovely email from Audrey and Ian Bidgood
reluctantly handing in their notice. They will still be working with the Colden
Common Twinning group but will be missed by us all in Winchester. Ian reminded
us of the time when he was locked in the bathroom in Versailles during his
Mayoral year (1981-2) and how he was a very early visitor to France -still in
the womb -when his parents were part of the official party attending the
unveiling of the Menin Gate at Ypres by the then Prince of Wales. Quite a
history!
Thierry De Nitto
Chairman.
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