Chairman’s Annual Report 2010
It is customary at this time of year to review the last year’s highlights. As always, it has been an eventful year with some tried and tested events together with some new twists on old favourites and some new initiatives. We tried to reflect both French and German themes in the social programme
We started the year with the ever popular quiz and fish and chip supper, closely followed by a German film evening. This was a new event for the Association and was well attended.
Another new event followed – a wine evening themed “Call my Bluff”. With twinning members Roger Leat and Phil Butler, ably supported by June Patrick Perks describing the wines, a small but enthusiastic audience enjoyed trying to identify six wines from some very “creative” descriptions.
The regular coffee morning was blessed with a beautiful sunny day and the good weather held for the equally successful Pimms afternoon. Both events held in members’ gardens.
The “Taste of Germany” evening was a new departure. We were given two contrasting but fascinating talks, the first one a historical look at British visitors to Germany (one could say an early example of early Twinning) and the other a practical demonstration of music boxes, with the taste bit of the title coming from an excellent German buffet.
Another new twist on an old favourite was the Beaujolais Bistro where we enjoyed a 5-course lunch of crudities, coq au vin, salad, cheese, coffee and desert. All this in celebration of the 2010 Beaujolais, which everyone pronounced a fine vintage. We ended 2010 with festive mulled wine and mince pies.
I hope you will agree it was a varied and highly enjoyable programme with something for everyone. These events give members a chance to get together socially and keep the Association thriving, no mean feat when people have so many demands on their time. They also help to raise the funds to pay for the visits from our twin towns and last year it was our turn to host a group from our two German twin towns.
The group came in August, sadly not one of the sunniest months but that did not hinder a packed programme with visits to Wisley, Brighton, London and a multiple choice day when our visitors selected from a visit to Pallant House, a tour of Boxgrove Priory, followed by a walk up Halnaker Hill and a historic walk round Chichester’s city walls. Everyone enjoyed the twinning reception where we wined and dined and then entertained with some traditional music. A further highlight was the Mayor’s reception, which this year was held at the new Regis School. Visitors and local alike were very impressed with the magnificent facilities, some even remarking that they wished they were back in school. The visit was marked with the placing of a bench near the Regis centre, the money for which had been donated by Weil am Rhein following a previous visit.
Last year was also the 30th anniversary of the twinning with St Maur. The Adult Education group organised their annual visit and enjoyed a programme consisting of the ever enjoyable visit to Paris as well as Fontainebleau and Barbizon. The new Mayor of St Maur hosted a reception to sign a re-affirmation of the Twinning Charter and we were delighted that the Mayor of Bognor Regis, Sandra Daniells and Councillor Adam Cunard were able to attend. After the formalities we were shown round the Town Hall by one of the town’s deputies and planted a rose bush in the Place Bognor Regis to mark the occasion.
You may have noticed that the Bognor Regis Town Council has been mentioned a number of times in the report. As part of our efforts to raise the profile of Twinning in Bognor, we had a meeting with the Mayor and members of the Council to discuss how we could work more closely together. We are, after all, a Town Twinning. Our meeting was held in the summer and the first tangible result was the successful reception for our German visitors at the Regis School. E-mails and addresses were exchanged and, hopefully, lasting contacts have been established. Another meeting is already in the diary for later this month.
In another effort to raise the profile of Twinning, Roger Leat and I gave a brief presentation at The Business Interchange breakfast meeting. This is a group of Bognor Regis business owners who meet regularly to exchange information and promote local business and initiatives. They have agreed to advertise us and our events through their website and if we can find someone who really understands the new electronic communication media – blogs and wickis et al - we can have a regular spot. Please let me know if you would like to volunteer!
Once again we presented the Twinning Association prize for language to a pupil at the then Bognor Regis Community College. We continue with our efforts to get e-mail exchanges established between schools in St Maur and Bognor. Though this is proving to be an uphill struggle, we did progress our plan to involve young people in exchanges.
You may recall last year I mentioned our wish to broaden interest in Twinning, particularly among young people and to this end we invited Weil am Rhein and Trebbin to bring some students with them as part of the exchange in the summer. This they did and four young people came. For our part, we worked with the County Council’s Youth Cabinet to identify some local students from Bognor to participate. In the event, we had only one student from Bognor (perhaps because it was during the summer holidays), but what we lacked in numbers we more than made up for in enthusiasm and I would like to record our thanks to Kaya Banks for being so actively involved in the week.
Last year also saw the first meeting of the Language Café. This provides an opportunity for German speakers of whatever proficiency to get together to hone their skills or just enjoy a chat and a cup of coffee. Twelve people attended this first meeting and it will now become a regular feature on the fourth Thursday of the month.
In looking back I am always struck by what we have achieved during the year. As a committee we have to be always looking forward and planning for the next thing but I think we should be very proud of what we achieved last year and that we have such a thriving Association
So, it was an eventful year and my last as Chairman. The past three years have been a real team effort, to plan and deliver a programme of events and promote the principles of Twinning. Our events are still well attended and hugely enjoyable and we have rung the changes to keep things fresh while still maintaining the old favourites. I must particularly thank those who run the actual events and provide the food: they do a magnificent job and we have had some splendid feasts during the year. Membership numbers continue to be a challenge but a number of new strands are developing and they bode well for the future. Later in this meeting there will be an opportunity to discuss how we take things forward with a new Chairman.
Before doing that I would like to take this opportunity to express my personal thanks to the whole committee for their commitment, support and sheer hard work over the last three years. I could not have asked for a better team of people. It has been a privilege to be your Chairman and I wish the Committee and the Association continued success in 2011 and for many years to come.
Alison Merriman
Chairman
Bognor Regis Twinning Association
January 2011