Workington is celebrating its 30th year of twinning with a German town.
In 1994, a charter was signed by then-Workington mayor Peter Bales and dignitaries in Selm committing the towns maintaining and strengthening the bonds of friendship between citizens and to promoting peace, developing links for young people, for culture, education, sport, business and social work.
Thirty years later and those links are as strong as ever,
To celebrate the partnership, nine people from Selm are coming to Workington this weekend and will be attending the Party in The Park in Vulcan Park organised by Workington Town Council.
Most of the visitors are staying with families with whom they have built special relationships, some over many years.
Barbara Cannon, chair of Workington Twinning Association, said: “As one of the founder members of the association, and one of the first four people to visit Selm, I find it incredible that this partnership has endured in a way I could not have imagined in 1994.
“There has been many hundreds of individuals, groups, schools and organisations that have visited Selm and an equal number who have come to Workington. Some people have maintained very special friendships over those years and love to visit their friends.
“Even Covid did not spoil this relationship as we were able to keep in touch via zoom and social media channels. We are now rebuilding our relationships and developing new ones both in Selm and with our French twin town of Val De Reuil.
“We are grateful for the support of the town council and all the organisations that are involved in the association.”
Workington mayor Neil Schofield, said: “I would like to welcome our guests from Selm in this special year. I was honoured to go to Selm in February with a group of twinning supporters.
“We were all made very welcome and I enjoyed meeting with different people and organisations. Over 30 years our council has been involved in supporting the activities of the twinning association which was set up to foster those links. The council will continue to honour the commitment made to our two twin towns.”
Mr Bales said: “Both myself, and my wife Ann, have always enjoyed the contact we have had with the people of Selm and I am delighted we still have those links after 30 years. It was a great honour to sign that charter in Selm 30 years ago.”
There will be a tree planting ceremony in Vulcan Park at 11.30am on Saturday.
The tree is a gift from Selm to the people of Workington and will be followed by a poem read by John Hastings who has updated a poem he wrote for the 25th anniversary.
John said: “I was inspired to write the original poem on the 25th anniversary of Workington twinning with Selm. I have tweaked the poem for the 30th with three verses in English and two in German. I am looking forward to reading it on Saturday.”
