SOUTHBOROUGH HIGH BROOMS AND DISTRICT OVERSEAS TWINNING ASSOCIATION (SHDOFA)
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Southborough, near Tunbridge Wells in the Weald of Kent, is twinned with Lambersart in Northern France. Lambersart is next door to Lille, less than an hour on the Eurostar but a world away. It has been Southborough’s twin town for 15 years and the anniversary was celebrated in October 2007. The day to day organisation is taken care of by SHDOFA at this end and by the Lambersart branch of Amitiés Internationales in France. Lambersart is also twinned with Viersen in Germany and Kaniv in Ukraine. As a result we also have links and contacts in those two towns and a specific Friendship Association called SAKA has been set up with Kaniv.
2007 was a big year for SHDOFA in addition to all the usual social and fund raising events. We couldn’t let the ‘Tour de France’ pass through our town without marking the occasion which was celebrated in style by us and a number of French guests, some of whom had never seen the cycle race before. The pièce de résistance was the 15th anniversary celebrations which took place over two weekends in both Southborough and Lambersart.
On the social side we organise visits to places nearby in France where we are usually met by some of our French colleagues. There are the regular fund raising and social events such as our annual barbecue and annual dinner which follows the AGM. The Lambersartois often organise their own annual trip around our country which we are invited to join too. And of course we go to events in an around Lambersart organised by Amitiés Internationales.
But there is a more serious side to SHDOFA as well. There have been exchanges involving younger participants, for example the EuroYouth project whereby young people representing various countries get together to have fun and learn about each other’s way of life etc. In September 2008 we will be participating in a weekend event to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Armistice which brought about the end of the first World War. Many of the battlefields are not far away from Lambersart. The Germans from Viersen will also be attending this commemoration. In addition there is a self-help French language group which meets weekly at each other’s houses.
We are always looking to increase our membership, especially the younger ones. Please come in and enjoy our website and feel free to contact us if you have any comments or would like to know more.