Long-serving chairman of Shilbottle Héry Amicale French Exchange hands over the reins

Since 1963, Shilbottle has been twinned with Héry, a village in a rural area about 80 miles south east of Paris, close to the historic town of Auxerre.

Many young people and families have enjoyed happy and memorable exchanges in Northumberland and in France and in July 2024, a party of French visitors will be coming to celebrate the diamond anniversary since the first group of their young people came to Shilbottle.

Chairman Anne Armstrong stepped down from her position after almost 10 years and has handed over the reins to Gill Bray, who presented Anne with a gift in appreciation of her significant hard work.

Anne said: “It has been great to be so involved with the Amicale as chairman, especially since the exchange has had such an impact on my life since I first went to Héry as a teenager.

"It also showed me that there is much more to a country than just the language which we have to learn and the different things that we can buy. The Amicale is important, something special - and I know that Gill and the trustees are keeping it moving forward with the times.”

Gill said: “We are very grateful to Anne for her work as chairman over so many years and we are glad that she remains involved. We are all looking forward to celebrating the 60th anniversary of the first visit to Shilbottle with our friends from Héry.”

New members are welcome and can get further information by email at [email protected] or on the group’s Facebook.