NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2014 THOUGHTS OF CHAIRMAN CLIFF The Douzelage financial year ended on 31st August. So can the AGM be far behind? This is a stark reminder to me that the completion of my first year as your chairman will soon be reached. And what an initiation ! The theme of recent months has cer- tainly been MUSICAL and each of the three events was very successful in its own way. The Latvia meets Wessex folk evening at the brand new Greenfield Hall of the International College was not only a marvellous evening thanks to the music and food their kind and, given the warm afterglow provided by our friends from Riga, as of both, surely must be repeated and be- well as the splendid support by the come a regular fixture. None of these Wessex Morrismen, but also gener- things happen, however, without enor- ated a healthy financial surplus for mous organisation and all too often it falls our funds. on the same individuals who do most of the work. My thanks go out to them. A valuable spin off from the evening has been the establishing of an excel- At the start of my year I said that I would lent working relationship with the like to see an approach to each event or recently appointed Principal of the project whereby a small team undertakes College, who is keen to promote more to lead the task and draws on the help of interaction between her students and others in the committee as required. other schools in the town. My hope is that together we can develop The Sherborne Young Musicians this approach even further. Here's looking Competition in March was followed forward to another full and highly success- in July by the International version ful Sherborne Douzelage year. which involved five other Douzelage towns. These events were a “first” of Cliff Jelbert PAGE 2 SHERBORNE DOUZELAGE NOVEMBER 2014 AGROS MULTILATERAL YOUTH PROJECT From 25th October until 1st Novem- ber 8 students from the Gryphon and 1 from Leweston aged between 14 and 25 together with their two lead- ers will join with others from Cyprus, Poland, Romania and Spain in a mul- tilateral youth exchange. They will explore history, culture, traditions and politics from their re- spective countries. Using arts, drama, a cultural visit and a commu- nity project, the project will include many activities like Workshops, Team building games, outdoor activi- ties, music including dance, song and Learn how best to increase youth in- traditional instruments, discussions volvement in civil society and presentations among others. Foster the idea of European citizen- ship, its vales and principles. This will allow people of diverse cul- Promote the Erasmus + Programme tures to recognise similarities and Understand non formal education, ex- appreciate differences. This will en- change experience and good practice courage personal and social develop- Strengthen youth networking and cre- ment, so empowering young people to ate a safe environment for the partici- be active citizens with a sense of pants to develop new ideas about fu- belonging. ture projects. Agros has a history of these projects The idea is to have a gender balance and is noted for its very relaxed ap- and group diversity and to promote an proach, involving a lot of fun for all ongoing interest and understanding of the participants. the different backgrounds of people they meet in later life, thus enabling However the relaxation is for a seri- them to deal with problems in a toler- ous purpose and by the end of the ant and constructive way. week the students must accomplish several key objectives including: Without doubt many of the students Acquaintance with the concepts, cul- will in years to come look back on this ture, identity and different views. project as an opportunity they will al- Exchange of good practice of youth ways remember. organisations Kevin Waterfall PAGE 3 SHERBORNE DOUZELAGE NOVEMBER 2014 THE DOUZELAGE FAMILY A SLOVENIAN PERSPECTIVE Škofja Loka, Slovenia, has been a member of the Douzelage since 2011 and our delegates for the 39th General meeting in Sigulda were Elsa Louis, the French teacher at Škofja Loka Grammar School, Marcel Nahtigal, a student and myself, the headmaster of that School. This has been my first Douzelage meeting and for me the meeting was the perfect opportunity firstly to meet the representatives of the other the common issues of the youth straight- Douzelage twinning towns, and sec- forwardly at youth meetings, Education ondly to exchange ideas and experi- Meetings offer an opportunity for ences with these people and learn teachers to present their issues and share what they have gained through net- their own experiences. working in their local communities and regions. The meeting in Sigulda offered an oppor- tunity to plan further activities with I have realised that this is a great other towns, or to join the proposed pro- chance for Škofja Loka to share the jects and to suggest your own ideas and following experiences with other plans that could become successful Douzelage members: events for further co-operation. Škofja Loka has more than a thousand year long history and its richness of When participating at General Meeting cultural heritage may inspire the sessions, I was and am still amazed by other Douzelage members to explore the diversities of cultures and varieties of its tradition, culture and hospitality. languages. Discussing with the partici- pants from twenty-five European coun- Furthermore, there are many organ- tries, I am certain there must be a reason isations, societies and clubs in the why the twin towns are so strongly bound area which may have a chance to twin together. I believe it is a belief that we, or even to visit neighbouring towns in wherever we come from, have many the area in order to exchange, share things in common and many things to and learn from each other. As the share. What is more, we know that we Headmaster of the Grammar School I can learn from each other. And that is see an immense opportunity for my why everybody wants to be a member of students to be involved in real Euro the Douzelage family. pean networking, sharing and solving Joze Bogataj PAGE 4 SHERBORNE DOUZELAGE NOVEMBER 2014 SIGULDA THRILLS Baltic jewellery, urban photography ships that were made in the evenings at and traditional Latvian folk dance the hostel, at the traditional Easter cele- workshops were amongst the activities bration in Maurini and at the closing cere- on offer to us as youth delegates for mony that were for us the highlight of the Sherborne at the annual Douzelage stay. general meeting in picturesque Sigulda, Latvia. We both hope to maintain the many new friendships we have made and share new After spending an enjoyable evening experiences in Europe and elsewhere with and following morning in Riga, the Lat- the people we have met through Douze- vian capital with its striking Art Nou- lage. For so many different cultures and veau landmarks and impressive indoor nationalities to be integrated so well over market, we caught the train to Sigulda, such a short amount of time was brilliant. our home for the next three days situ- It was an inspiring trip and to experience ated on the border of the breath-taking such a unique and exciting culture was Gauja National Park. incredible. All of this could not have been possible without the help and organisa- After a warm welcome from the town’s tion of the representatives of Sigulda to mayor and some ice-breaking activities whom we owe a great deal of gratitude. in the Sigulda Youth Centre the work- Sigulda definitely “thrills“. shops began. When we weren’t sam- pling arguably the country’s most fa- Jake Hitch and Alistair Dolbear mous export - folk dance or the fantastic cuisine, we were visiting neighbouring Turaida, and its fascinating medieval castle, learning why Sigulda “thrills” at its world-famous outdoor recreation centre or having our voices heard shar- ing ideas about how to update and im- prove the organisation and manage- ment of what we now affectionately re- fer to as ‘DouzYouth’. As culturally enriching and enjoyable as these experiences were, it is the friend- PAGE 5 SHERBORNE DOUZELAGE NOVEMBER 2014 EXPLORING MODERN POLAND FRIDAY 20TH—SATURDAY 21ST JUNE This two day Conference arose from an Twinning with Chojna and now the awareness that Poland's history is Douzelage. so little known in this country, including Jeremy Barker talked about the siege the connections with Sherborne. This of Vienna in 1683 and Pulsudski’s was an opportunity to tell of the signifi- ‘Miracle on the Vistula’ in 1920. cant role Poland has played in the course of European history. Then two guest speakers, Edward Lucas spoke on ‘Poland and the New How few even know that twice the Poles Europe’ and Veronica Lloyd –Jones saved Europe from potentially cataclys- on ‘A short tour of modern Polish mic disaster, first by raising the siege of Literature.’ Both were excellent. Vienna in 1683 and secondly by Pilsud- ski destroying, in 1920, the massive Red Perhaps best of all was a masterly Army about to take Warsaw and march presentation by students from Cho- into Berlin. jna on 'Contemporary Poland through Young Eyes', which was just Three events were organised. On the wonderful. Friday, there was a Chopin recital in the Cheap Street Church, a near sell-out, Taken all together, it was indeed a and the showing in the Digby Hall, tour de force!. Hound Street, of the film Walesa: Man of Jeremy Barker Hope, very moving and also well- attended.