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Update from the Chairman – March 2022

Greetings Everyone!

I hope you all have survived a very turbulent two years – it has certainly led to difficult and changing times.

Both Brexit and Covid 19 have had enormous repercussions on our organisation. Something we can discuss at our forthcoming AGM.

There have been a lot of changes since our association was more active: one activity coming up is the celebrations on May 7th, planned in Biberach to mark 30 years of our twinning. We have an invitation  there for the celebration.

Adrian and I are planning to travel there by car. I’m hoping others are also considering doing the same. Please consider going – perhaps by car, car-sharing or possibly by Ryan Air to Memmingen (although their timetable is much reduced) or from London to Munich or Stuttgart, onward by rail.

It would be really good to be able to have a number of us go to Biberach! I look forward to hearing from you. If you want to speak to me please call or email.

Look forward to hearing from you and hope to see you soon!

Take Care

 

Joy Phillips

Chairman TTA

Biberach and Swidnica Support for Ukraine

Biberach Ukraine aid via sister city Schweidnitz

I thought you might all like to see this article from the Biberach Town website, describing how Biberach will be collecting donations to provide direct support to Swidnica to help displaced Ukrainians and their Ukrainian twin towns. The true power of Town Twinning at a time of desperate need.

Best wishes, Richard.

(English translation by Google) https://biberach–riss-de.translate.goog/Quicknavigation/Startseite/Biberacher-Ukraine-Hilfe-via-Partnerstadt-Schweidnitz.php?object=tx,2215.1&ModID=7&FID=2215.6250.1&NavID=2215.1&NavID=2215.6&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en

City administration sets up central donation account
Providing the most direct and unbureaucratic help possible for the people affected by the war in Ukraine – that’s what many people want at the moment. For this reason, the city administration of Biberach, in close cooperation with Biberach’s Polish partner city Schweidnitz, initiated an auxiliary axis, via which urgently needed goods land directly where they are needed. The first delivery should be on its way as early as Saturday. Support is currently in demand primarily in the form of monetary donations. In a next step, the acceptance of selected donations in kind is also planned.
 
 

#standwithukraine; © City administration of Biberach


The images and news of Russia’s attack on Ukraine shock many people. For Biberach’s Lord Mayor Norbert Zeidler, it quickly became clear: in addition to showing solidarity with the Ukrainian people, it is necessary to provide unbureaucratic practical help to the best of our ability. “It was important to me that our support was based on the needs of the people on site,” says Zeidler.

For this reason, the Biberach mayor contacted the Polish twin town of Schweidnitz, which is only 600 kilometers away from Lemberg and itself maintains partnerships with two towns in the Ukraine. In the exchange with the friends in Schweidnitz, it quickly became clear that this partnership-based axis could provide targeted and needs-based help: “Approximately 5,000 Ukrainian citizens live in Schweidnitz and are currently taking in friends and relatives,” explains Zeidler. In addition, preparations are being made there for the arrival of a large number of refugees in a short time.

There is also contact and aid deliveries from Schweidnitz to the Ukraine. “We therefore want to closely tie our Biberach aid to that of our friends in Schweidnitz,” says Zeidler. “This ensures that our help arrives where it is currently needed and does not ignore the needs of those affected.”

The first step is to bring goods and relief supplies to Schweidnitz very quickly, which are no longer available in Poland but are urgently needed at the moment. The first transport is already planned for the coming weekend.

In order to be able to act as quickly as possible, the city administration will procure these goods centrally in large quantities. In a next step, the city administration is also planning to collect specific, selected donations in kind on site over the course of the next week. More information on this will be provided once it is clear what is needed.

Zeidler presented the Biberach plans at a short-notice appointment with representatives of various aid and blue light organizations as well as the association “StädtePartner eV” and received broad approval. “In particular, it became clear once again that it is important to clarify which aid supplies are actually needed,” explains Zeidler. In Biberach, therefore, they want to refrain from uncoordinated collections of donations in kind.

Anyone who would like to support the Biberach relief campaign is asked to transfer their donation to one of the following accounts:

  • Kreissparkasse Biberach
    IBAN: DE48 6545 0070 0000 0005 12
    BIC: SBCRDE66
     
  • Volksbank Ulm-Biberach
    IBAN: DE14 6309 0100 0000 0010 07
    BIC: ULMVDE66

Purpose (please state): Ukraine

All incoming donations are used in full for the procurement of urgently needed products and relief supplies.

“I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support for this aid campaign!” emphasizes Mayor Zeidler. “I am very sure that together with our friends in Schweidnitz we can make our contribution to supporting the people of Ukraine in this way.”

Information on refugees from Ukraine is available on a special website of the state government of Baden-Württemberg

Musikfrühling in Biberach on 7 May 2022

If any Twinners would like to attend the Musikfrühling festival in Biberach on 7 May, please contact Joy Phillips for more information. The event is of course provisional at this stage and Ryanair’s Memmingen schedule appears to be subject to change, so travel arrangements will need to be kept under review.

All Biberach’s twinning partners are invited and it will be a special opportunity for us to celebrate  the 30th anniversary of Biberach’s partnership with Tendring District and their 40th anniversary with Asti in the evening, after the market and other entertainmnet during the day.

This should be a splendid event and hopefully a chance to refresh our twinning ties.

News From Biberach – Christmas Market 2021

Marianne Wilhelm has kindly provided us with a news report and some pictures  from Biberach:

Dear friends,

Here is some news from Biberach: Due to high Covid figures, the Christkindlesmarkt was finally cancelled on the 23rd of November, 4 days before the beginning of the market. The stalls had already been put up the week before and some sellers had started to decorate, as we had. But we were lucky, as we were offered a stall on the Wochenmarkt, the food and flower market, on Wednesdays and Saturdays from the 1st to the 11th of December. Christmas markets such as the Ulm Weihnachtsmarkt were abolished in Baden-Württemberg as of last Saturday, December 4th, whereas the weekly markets can continue.

People here in Biberach are happy that products from the twin towns are on sale again this year. There hasn’t been an opportunity to do so since the Christkindlesmarkt two years ago, so there are always beaming faces when we are discovered. Our range of English goods is not very big this year, but we offer basics like various orange marmalades, lemon curd, fudge, shortbread and English tea. Last week a customer came along with a bag, bought 4 jars of orange marmalade plus 5 jars of orange marmalade with whisky, beamed all over his face and said we had saved his Christmas. The orange marmalade with whisky was the first to be sold out. Sales are also going very well otherwise. There are always customers in front of the stall. In addition to English goods, there are products from Georgia and Valence. Bernard from Valence, despite his more than 80 years and Corona, did not miss the chance to get behind the wheel of his packed van and come to Biberach.

Our friends from Asti and Schweidnitz (Swidnica) have refrained from visiting Biberach this year due to the high Corona numbers, unfortunately. But we hope for next spring, the Musikfrühling on 7 May. We are looking forward to celebrating with our friends from the twinning towns the 30th anniversary of the partnership with the Tendring District and the 40th anniversary with Asti in the evening after the market in the morning.

An online meeting with our Biberach friends – a great success!

On 11 January we held the first meeting with our Biberach friends since Christmas  2019. Marianne and Petra had organised a Zoom meeting online, which proved to be a very easy and enjoyable way to make contact again. We shared our experiences of lockdown, vaccination, the weather, favourite reading material and many other everyday interests. There will be another meeting on 15 February so if you would like to join please be sure to contact Joy for details.

Marianne wrote an article for the Schwabische Zeitung which appeared on 15 January together with a screenshot of some of the participants:

6 people from Biberach and 9 people from Tendring  took part . The last face-to-face  meeting had taken place on the Christkindle market in Biberach in 2019. Therefore it was a great pleasure to see each other.

Since the meeting we have also received some pictures of the recent snowy weather in Biberach:

An outdoor bar!

 

 

 

Cross-country skiing:

And a walk in the woods:

Our Christmas Message 2020

Dear Friends

This has been a strange year – probably the strangest year since the association began more than 50 years ago. Nothing has happened within the TTA since the end of the Biberach market in December 2019. We had a committee meeting in February, but since then we have depended on sporadic emails. We had hoped to have an AGM in April – but as you know we were still in lockdown. The van has been in its parking spot in the Tendring Council depot in Clacton throughout this time. At present we have not taxed it and have no plans for moving it in the foreseeable future. 

This year we have sadly lost two highly valued and respected members of the TTA. John Wolton passed away in May. When Adrian and I first got involved, John and Judith were very active TTA members. For us they were the epitome of a fit, retired couple. One that we hoped to emulate! The association has much to thank both John and Judith for in their many roles and we will all miss John very much. 

The other person who passed away this year was Paul Sharpe: he was my predecessor and a dedicated chairman who worked hard during his term of office. He led the TTA through a busy period in its history. He organised English courses, trips to Valence, Biberach and Swidnica. Last year we had a meal at The Pavillion to celebrate the end of the Clacton market and both John and Paul were with us. Paul was already wheelchair bound although he was still able to speak to us, we were saddened to see his decline. The association would like to remember both Judith and Sue as they approach their first Christmas without their partners.

I would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in 2021. We will, of course, organise an AGM as soon as we are able to. In the meantime, I would ask you if you could help the Biberach twinners. This is what they are asking for:  ‘we were asked by the Schwäbische Zeitung, our local newspaper, to ask our partners in the twinning towns for a short report about – 

– How you spent christmas

– How people are doing in Tendring

– What is actually worrying you

– What are your wishes for 2021

Pictures would be welcome. ‘

If any of you would like to send me a brief email by the 1st January 2021, I would very much appreciate your input.

 

Stay safe, everybody!

Joy Phillips, Chairman,  Tendring Twinning Association

AGM 29th April – Update

Calling all Tendring Twinning Association members: the committee had set a date for the AGM for Wednesday, 29th April. As the news of the Coronavirus is ever-changing, it seems that this date might well be too enthusiastic.

The situation is still unclear, but we want to let you know that we are still keeping on top of things and will let you know of a postponed date if it becomes necessary at the earliest possible opportunity.

Joy Phillips, Chairman, TTA

CVST Christmas Twinning Celebration – 16th November

Tendring twinners and friends are warmly invited to join us and the Twinners coming over for the Christmas Market at the Town Hall, for a dinner at Armstrong’s restaurant in Clacton.

Anyone wishing to join us will need to pay for themselves. We will gather at 18.45 on Saturday, 16th November.

Please let Joy Phillips, Chairman, know by the 4th of November at the latest to reserve seats.

 

 

 

 

 

Hosts urgently needed for our Youth Theatre event 4-9 September

Dear Tendring Twinners and Friends

I am in the midst of helping to organise the visit at the beginning of September with 34 mainly young people coming from Biberach to perform Godspell with Melissa Wenn’s  Princes Youth Theatre group. This is an exciting and new experince for our town twinning activities.

Biberach residents have been extremely generous in hosting the Youth Theatre Group during visits to Biberach as part of their rehearsals.

Would you be able to put up any folk from Wednesday 4th September to Monday 9th? They would only need breakfast as we have arranged a full programme of activities during their stay. Of course we would be delighted if you can also  come to the performance on Saturday 7th.

Please contact me if you think you may be able to help and we can discuss details.

Joy Phillips, Chairman TTA.