1. Appendix 1 - Letter from Helensburgh and District Twinning Association
Argyll and Bute Council · 10 June 2025
Back to Helensburgh & Lomond Area Committee — 10 June 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Helensburgh.twinning@gmail.com Facebook @helensburgh.thouars 17th May 2025 FAO Mr Stuart Mclean Argyll & Bute Council Dear Stuart, At the recent Helensburgh & District Twinning AGM I took over from Deborah Dennett as Secretary of the Helensburgh & District Twinning Association. As you know a small group from Helensburgh had a wonderful visit to Thouars in July 2023, and our Association donated towards a meal and festivities to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of our Twinning. As mentioned in previous letters, the French committee decided to cancel the visit to Helensburgh in 2022 due to the pandemic. To get the bi- annual dates back on track visitors from Thouars are returning to Helensburgh in August 2025. The committee are hopeful that the Twinning Association will receive the Twinning grant as in previous years so that we can give our visitors from Thouars a wonderful time in Helensburgh and surrounding areas. Please accept this letter as a formal request for funding from the Twinning Association. The visit will last from the 4th of August until the 11th of August and the programme of excursions is in the planning stage at the moment. We are however planning to spend at least half of the visit in the local area and are investigating local attractions which we can take visitors to (e.g. Hill House, the Submarine Centre, Glenarn Gardens, Luss. Loch Lomond etc) as well as using local venues such as the Helensburgh Civic Centre, the Commodore Hotel and the Rosslea Hotel our official dinner, ceilidh etc. As you are probably aware, entry prices and catering prices have increased significantly. For 50 guests, for example, a one hour cruise on Loch Lomond for those over 16 costs £17.50 plus £1 booking fee per person (a cost of £925) whilst entry to the Hill House has increased to £15 per adult (a cost of £750 for the group). This would amount to over £1,600 not including transport costs and only cover one day of a 7-day itinerary. The cost of hiring a bus (from local firms like Wilsons of Rhu) to take visitors further afield is around £400-£700 dependent on distance and the number of hours hired. Our committee would really welcome the support of elected members in maintaining this historical & well-established Twinning link and its associated costs. We thank the elected members for their continued support over the years. It is very much appreciated. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely Anne Thorn Secretary Helensburgh and District Twinning Association