Town Twinning
Twinning with Gouvieux
The twinning between Gouvieux and Dorking & District has now been in existence for 10 years. How time flies! Many partnerships between various clubs have been established and have come and gone. One area that remains constant and has proved fruitful is the partnership between schools. We are looking to the future to re-establish friendships and start regular visits between both towns.
This last Christmas we arranged for greeting cards to be sent to our friends in Gouvieux and many replied, some including photographs of their expanding families. Recently 40 secondary students from the schools in Gouvieux came to Dorking to meet with pupils from Brockham and St Martin’s C of E Schools. This proved to be a great success and all who participated agreed the experience was most rewarding.
Mole Valley Youth Voice is looking to exchange, with 6th Form students from Dorking to visit Gouvieux, to repeat the debating society that had been started in 2005.
Twinning with Guglingen, Germany
Dorking completed the first stage of its twinning agreement with Güglingen in Germany when a party of 21 local citizens and Councillors travelled there to attend an official signing ceremony on 21 and 22 July 2007.
The event came after almost three years of planning, during which time representatives of each town visited each other to ensure that there would be sufficient benefits to each partner and their Clubs, Schools, Societies and Businesses for the arrangement to proceed. At the November 2006 Mole Valley District Council meeting it was unanimously agreed to the twinning.
Güglingen is a market town, smaller in population than Dorking, but makes up for this with the enthusiasm of its people. It shares with Dorking a love of wine growing and its geographical setting is very similar to ours.
The second signing ceremony takes place in Dorking on 22 September 2007 September when interested parties in and around Dorking will be able to meet their counterparts from Güglingen and offer our guests as warm a welcome as they afforded to us!
We need to ensure all residents of Dorking are willing to participate in the twinning activities. We need more members to join the Town Twinning Association. Subscriptions are £5 individual membership, £7.50 family membership and £10 for corporate membership.
Anthony Wakefield, Chairman, Dorking Town Twinning Association.
For more information please contact town.manager@visitdorking.com
