Who can benefit?
Anybody and everybody! The twinning is far more than the occasional civic exchange, and the council wants it to involve the community as a whole.
Already a host of organisations have sealed their own links with counterparts in Angers. They include policemen and postal workers, charities, sporting groups and musicians, schools and colleges, fishing and darts clubs, chambers of commerce and trade ... and many more. Companies have exchanged employees and young people have found work placements in local businesses.
Want to find out more?
Wigan and Angers have devised a unique system of ensuring the twinning continues to prosper. Each year the towns exchange ambassadors, young people whose aim is to represent their hometown abroad. The job it is to support existing links and encourage new ones. They can help in all sorts of ways - by translating, giving talks to local societies and schools, finding pen pals and work placements.
And by working in day to day contact they can assist groups who want to get involved in twinning by identifying their counterparts and making the first approach.
How Can I Get Involved?
If you are a local group or individual who is interested in taking part in any of the following activities or more, why not fill out on of the following electronic forms:
- Looking for a twin - assistance with finding a pen pal, developing other links or organising an event.
- Linguistic support - interpretation and translation assistance with letters, CV's and other projects.
- Presentations to groups - if you would like the Ambassadress to present back information on twinning issues to your group or organisation.
- Trip organisation - assistance with transport, accommodation, transport, gap years, work placement and more.
- Host families - opportunities to become a host family in Wigan and accommodate a French person or experience a true French way of life by staying with a French family in Angers.
- Other enquiries/requests - covering anything else that is not covered above.
