Grantham Twinning Association

What is Twinning?

‘Twinning’ is when two towns or cities form a legal or social agreement for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. By bringing together people from different countries it provides the opportunity to share problems, solutions, exchange opinions and learn from each other and create friendships through common interests and issues. It also allows the two towns to share planned activities and visits to each other’s town.

Getting to know people from another country, especially when they speak a different language, eat different food and live following a different culture isn’t easy for everyone. It can be daunting and make you feel completely out of your comfort zone. So why do it? And why have twinned towns? Obviously people can travel around Europe fairly cheaply these days, stay in an hotel, visit places of interest, meet new people, albeit briefly and enjoy new cuisines and acquire a suntan for a brief period. Well Twinning is more than that. It’s about building long-term relationships, really learning about other peoples’ culture, not during a snapshot holiday, but over many years of visits and communications. It’s about friendship, mutual understanding and respect. The twinning relationship between Grantham and its twinned town of Sankt Augustin is not just about councillors and committees, it’s about the people of the two towns. Yes it’s nice if you can speak German, but all German children learn English as their second language, so don’t be put off by a non-existent language barrier.

Grantham Twinning History

Grantham is twinned with the town of Sankt Augustin, which is situated in the Rhein-Sieg district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is named after the patron saint of the Divine World Missionaries, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430). The Missionaries established a monastery near the current town centre in 1913. The Municipality of Sankt Augustin is made up of 9 Villages and was established in 1969, and on 6th September 1977 acquired full town status. Sankt Augustin is approximately 5 miles east of the city of Bonn,19 miles south of the city of Cologne and 2 miles South-west of the town of Siegburg and has a population of 55,500.

The ‘Twinning’ with Sankt Augustin came about through interest created by Scout groups making exchange visits between the two towns during the late 1970s, leading to the signing of a charter in Sankt Augustin in 1980 and in Grantham in 1981. Since that time there has been numerous visits both ways by sports teams, dance groups and schools, although latterly visits to Sankt Augustin have sadly only been made by members of the Grantham Twinning Association.

Grantham Twinning Association was formed as a Non Charity Unincorporated Association, is totally self-funded and exists to promote friendship between our two towns and to assist with hosting of visits and to initiate contact between organisations in Grantham with similar organisations in Sankt Augustin.

Exchange Visits

Exchange visits have taken place before and many Grantham people have wonderful memories of their visit to Sankt Augustin as part of a scout group, school visit, choir, music ensemble or sports team. And we want to encourage these to happen again. We are hoping that the Priory Ruskin Academy will soon ‘Twin’ with Albert Einstein Gymnasium School in Sankt Augustin this coming autumn and this will lead to Zoom meeting and other web based communications between the two schools initially and eventually actual visits to both our towns by pupils, teachers and parents.

Hosting

Since the ‘Twinning’ many of our members have regularly been hosted by our German friends in Sankt Augustin and have regularly hosted German guests in Grantham. They have always made us very welcome and we have worked hard to ensure their visits here have been interesting and fun. Hosting should not be taken on lightly, but is generally very enjoyable and gives the guest/s a first hand look at how we live. So if you have a spare bedroom and don’t mind cooking breakfast for an additional guest or two, give it a go. Many of our guests prefer to stay in an hotel or guest house, so not all members of the Association need to host and it is not a requirement of membership.

Social Media, Virtual Meetings & Other Communication

Communication between people of the two towns can also take place virtually and of course via post, email and social media. For some people this is a good first step prior to visiting in person. Consistent communication over time builds great relationships and friendships.

Business & Commercial

If you think your business would benefit from making contact with businesses in Sankt Augustin, either for import/export purposes, learning best practice or just for social reasons, please get in touch and we will try and find suitable contacts.