By Liz Price, Haywards Heath Twinning Association
The keen-eyed residents may have noticed a recent addition to the Haywards Heath skyline in the form of a signpost which sits in the little garden opposite the Star pub and outside Zizzi Restaurant – showing the distances to Bondues and Traunstein. But why? You may well ask…
Behind all of this is the thriving Haywards Heath Twinning Association, membership of which is open and welcome to all residents of Haywards Heath and surrounding villages. The Twinning Association organises trips to and from Bondues and Traunstein and encourages links between clubs and societies in Haywards Heath and our twin towns of Bondues and Traunstein.
Only an hour’s drive from Calais and close to Lille, Bondues is a lively friendly community with a beautiful old town centre. Established in 1998 the twinning friendship with Bondues is very active and much cherished.
Traunstein and Haywards Heath have been proudly twinned since 1993. Traunstein is in the south-eastern part of Bavaria and is beautifully situated close to the Lake Chiemsee between Munich and Salzburg.
Anyone with children who’ve studied German at Oathall Community College will be aware of the town of Traunstein since Oathall has a regular school exchange with a school in Traunstein in Bavaria. This link has been in existence for many years and it’s from this link that the formal twinning between the towns of Haywards Heath and Traunstein came about 30 years ago.
There are opportunities to visit for all members and this is a great way to improve language skills in French and German and meet new friends in France and Germany. During the year The Twinning Association offers many language opportunities including Language Classes and groups and our very popular informal chats in local cafés in French and German, wordle groups, scrabble in French and a French Book Club. All these groups meet to progress language skills and share a common interest with friendly folk!
Since the demise of Adult Education in our area it’s difficult to find opportunities for language learning and practice and this is one of the many reasons the Association has become so popular.
With the approach of Christmas, it will soon be time for our annual Christmas party with carols in French and German around the piano with Glühwein and seasonal food!
If you’re someone who might be interested in joining us, we would love you to get in touch. Membership is just £10 per annum. You might also be someone involved in a local club or society interested in having links and possibly exchanges with a similar club or society in France or Germany. Please do contact us at hhtwinners@gmail.com, or find us on Facebook.