Town twinning
Stevenage has four twin towns: Autun in France, Ingelheim in Germany, Kadoma in Zimbabwe and Shimkent in Kazakhstan.
The first links were formed with Ingelheim in 1958 through school exchanges designed to improve relations after the war. In 1959, a link committee was formed by townspeople to promote links between sports clubs, theatrical groups and churches. The link was forged at a civic level in 1963 through the signing of a treaty.
Ingelheim was already linked with Autun and in order to strengthen ties, Stevenage also twinned with the French town in 1975. The resulting Stevenage – Ingelheim – Autun association has helped many schools and clubs to send thousands of young people to visit the twin towns and also to receive visitors from them.
A link between Stevenage and Kadoma was formed in 1989 and both the council and the link association have worked hard to create a mutual benefit. Representatives from the council have visited the municipality and many important projects have been undertaken including fundraising to pay the compulsory school fees for Zimbabwean children.
Shimkent was the final link to be established in 1990. At the time it was part of the USSR, and now is in the Commonwealth of Independent States. With the formation of a twinning association a number of educational and cultural exchanges have taken place and helped to build strong links between the towns.
Ingelheim Council
Ingelheim on Wikipedia.org
Autun Council
Autun on Wikipedia.org