People living in the area of Germany that was hit by terrible floods in July have expressed heartfelt thanks to Exmouth Twinning Association for a ‘generous’ and ‘unexpected’ donation of cash.
Exmouth’s twin town Langerwehe escaped the worst of the flooding but its surroundings were severely affected. Towns in the Ahr Valley, an area the Exmouth group has visited on twinning trips, were among the worst-hit areas, with widespread destruction and 133 people killed.
At the time the Exmouth Twinning Association sent £2,000 to its German counterpart, and has now received letters of gratitude from two German mayors and a family whose home was severely damaged by the flood.
Maggie Gingell from the Exmouth association said: “Creating and developing friendship between communities on both sides of the Channel is the whole purpose of town twinning so, when Exmouth Twinning Association members heard about the devastating floods in Germany in the summer, the first thought was ‘How can we help our friends?’
“Covid had caused the cancellation of the past two years’ twinning trips leaving unused funds in the bank, so the decision was made to send £2000 to the German Twinning Association for them to distribute as they saw fit.”
“We now know that 800 Euros each went to the funds for families in Langerwehe and in nearby Inden, to help those who had been hit particularly hard by the floods.”
The Mayor of Langerwehe wrote thanking the assocation for ‘your commitment to our region and for your generous donation towards helping citizens of Langerwehe who have been particularly affected by the recent floods’.
The Mayor of Inden’s letter told how much he and his fellow citizens appreciated this ‘overwhelming symbol of solidarity’. He said he had not expected that help would come from England after Brexit, but the association’s generosity ‘had shown him how strong the personal twinning links are and how resilient against political decisions’.
Peter Trarbech, the Ahr Valley resident whose family home was severely damaged with the loss of all their possessions, received £800 from the donation. His letter said: “We would like you to know that your unexpected money gift has brought us great emotional comfort and is helping us to cope with this terrible natural disaster.”
Maggie said: "Exmouth Twinners were very pleased to hear the positive responses to our donation which has provided practical help and has also reinforced the strong bonds of friendship that exist between our two towns."
Anyone interested in finding out more about twinning and Exmouth’s links with Dinan in France and Langerwehe in Germany can visit the association's website.
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