LEEK TWINNING ASSOCIATION
After a short time the committee was approached by Este in Italy who had become aware of Leek through the Brussels protocol which twinning towns have to apply through. They already had considerable twinning experience administered by a large committee of people who already had established twin towns in France, Germany, Hungary and Croatia. They also had a sub committee at the head of which was a German whose responsibility it was to find an English twin. By way of introduction Este then sent the Leek Committee a delightful video of their town following which two of their Committee turned up in Leek quite unexpectedly late one morning. They had arrived on an unofficial visit to see if Leek could be the English partner they were seeking. Thanks to a small group of surprised Committee members, a quick tour of the area followed by an informal meeting and a farewell was put together. Shortly after this initial meeting the Leek committee was approached by Este seeking to make further progress, this time on an official basis. A series of visits were made in both directions culminating in 2002 with each local authority agreeing to establish a twinning agreement. As Mr Johnson explained, in the early days Este was viewed by many as a foreign place with little in common with Leek, and in particular
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with Leek people. Since then due to a considerable amount of effort on behalf of many Leek residents, not all on the Committee, the relationship between the two communities has grown from strength to strength. Regular interchanges now take place between the two towns with a particular emphasis on youth, which is a principle objective of the Leek Committee. Throughout the year its members can be seen raising funds with the money going predominately to assist young groups of people visiting this Italian region. In many cases for the first time. One of the initial visits made was by a group of young footballers from Leek CSOB. During these early years the interchange between the townships was dominated by music. Este provided their superb Gospel choir and their young peoples Downs choir while Leek returned with the Phoenix Singers, Piva and Bella Musica. Music is still a feature today with Leek Choral Society making its own contribution in Este. Young people have played football and basketball at Este’s annual Atestiadi or sp ? ??\?]?[ [???]?H?Y[?\?X?\?Y?] ?Y[? ??YH ???? ? ?X?\? ?\?[ Y[? ?\?] ?[???[]\?X?X[??]?H ^YY[? ?[??]\?x?&\?]\???\?]?[ ?[??[?H ?
?YZ??[X??]Y] ?X\??]?\?\?H ?\?H\??H]?[??? H ??[? ?X?\?H?? ?X?]Y?X] H ?]??