Help the Angers Twinning Association
From the 21st August 2009 until the 26th August 2009, around 50 people from your French twin town Angers, will be visiting Wigan. This is part of an exchange between the Angers Twinning Association (in Wigan) and their French counterparts.
The Angers Twinning Association is organising their stay to help them discover Wigan, and they are looking for HOST FAMILIES to accommodate some of these "Angevins" (people from Angers).
Sport takes the lead in Wigan-Angers Twinning
21 years since the start of the twinning between Wigan and its French twin town, Angers, the idea of ‘exchange’ has evolved. The first exchanges involved schools, but nowadays the twinning can apply not only to education, but also to culture, leisure, business and to sport.
For 2008-2009, your Ambassadresses, Heather Thompson (from Wigan) and Aline Domeau (from Angers), have decided to highlight the sporting potential of their towns.
Not only do links between sport teams help to promote the twinning between our two towns, but they are also a great opportunity to raise the profile of lesser-known sports and attract new players.
The first upcoming exchange involves the South East Lancashire Orienteering Club. They invited ASCEMA, a running club from Angers, to participate in a regional competition that will take place at Haslingden Grane on 27th September 2009. Over the course of a few days, runners from Angers will be discovering Wigan and the English way of life thanks to their hobby.
The next project, which is still in the early planning stages, will be around American Football. 2009 marks the 20th anniversary for the Yankees SCO from Angers. What better way to celebrate a club’s birthday then with a twinning? For that reason they invited the Standish Raiders (juniors) and Lancashire Wolverines (seniors) to Angers to celebrate with friendly matches and other activities in order to introduce “Angevins” (people from Angers) to American Football.
In addition to these projects, others are already arranged for 2010! The first one is also a celebration: the 90th anniversary of L’Intrépide Angers Football Club. The club is in touch with Shevington Football Club (which has recently been awarded the FA Charter Standard) who wanted to do an exchange with a club from Angers. The details of the exchange are still being discussed, but Shevington FC’s junior teams are most likely to visit Angers in May 2010 for an “Anniversary Tournament”.
And finally a project launched during summer 2008 (thanks to James Smith and Céline Réveillard, former ambassadors) involves the winners of both the ‘Wigan Club of the Year 2008’ and the ‘Greater Manchester Club of the Year’, Tyldesley Water Polo Club. The club’s senior team were promoted to Division 1 of the National Water Polo League at the end of last year after finishing top of Division 2. The exchange, due to take place in 2010, will involve the club’s youth team. Paul Costello, Tyldesley’s social secretary and Dennis Price, the youth team coach visited Angers Water Polo Club at the beginning of the month so they could discuss the exchange and visit Angers’ facilities. This exchange will involve friendly matches and both clubs hope it will raise the profile of this minority sport amongst people from both Angers and Wigan. Away from the swimming pool it is also an exciting opportunity for the young players to experience another culture and make new friends.
As you can see, these sporting links between Angers and Wigan are beneficial to the clubs in many different ways. As well as being a chance to exchange ideas about tactics, technique and training, the players can experience a different culture and people. The exchanges often give rise to long lasting friendships. These sporting links really are a fantastic opportunity for the budding athletes of our two towns.
So if you are a member of a sports club, have been inspired by this article and would like to meet and exchange with your French twin town, please contact Aline Domeau (details below).
On your marks, get set…go!
Twinning Tapestries: For 20 years Angers and Wigan stitch links
2008 marked the 20th anniversary of the twinning between Wigan and the French city of Angers. To celebrate this anniversary, a local community group from Wigan called the Daisy Chain Stitchers created two tapestries celebrating the two towns.
Angers is famous for its medieval and contemporary tapestries. The Angers Castle is home to the Apocalypse Tapestry which is a representation of the Apocalypse of John according to the Bible. This tapestry was made during the 14th century and has been on display in the Angers castle since the 15th century. The capital of Anjou, Angers also welcomes the Jean Lurçat and Contemporary Tapestry Museum: the museum's collections bring together works of textile art from the 1950's right up to the most contemporary creations.
Therefore, the Daisy Chain Stitchers wanted to commemorate the event with a stitching project of twin tapestries, under the assistance of textile artist Elizabeth Smith. There are two twin tapestries: one representing Wigan and the other representing Angers; these tapestries include photographs from the twinning since its commencement. The artist and the stitchers drew their inspiration from the decorative bricks of Wigan Borough as regards the tapestries’ red colours. The project has been sponsored by the Coalfields Regeneration Trust and supported by Wigan Council.
Since the beginning of October, the tapestries have been on display in wall cabinets at the Grand Arcade in Wigan, near George Formby’s statue (located in the alley leading to Millgate Car Park). The Twinning Office would like to compliment the stitchers and the artist for their wonderful work. It took them more than 20 sessions to create these two pieces of art, and the result symbolises perfectly both Angers and Wigan...as well as their friendship and twinning that has linked them for the past 20 years.
If you are interested in joining the Daisy Chain Stitchers, they meet every Tuesday afternoon at: Clifton Centre, Poolstock Lane, Worsley Mesnes, Wigan WN3 5HN. For more information, please contact Marjorie Latham, secretary, on 01942 234 880.
Leigh French Circle
Fancy learning and practicing your French in a relaxed atmosphere with a glass of wine? Then why not come along to the Leigh French Circle. See our French Activities in the Borough page for more information on Leigh French Circle, forthcoming meetings will be taking place:
- 21 May 2009 - To be confirmed.
Angers Twinning Association
Every meeting starts at 7.00 pm and ends at 8.30 pm:
- 20 May 2009, Wigan Town Hall
- 17 June 2009, Leigh Town Hall
- 15 July 2009, Wigan Town Hall
To find out more details please contact the Ambassadress, Aline Domeau.
