Levenmouth finalises twinning agreement

At a signing ceremony held at the Buckhaven Beehive on Saturday evening, dignitaries representing Fife, Levenmouth and Bruges, signed the papers that sealed the agreement.

Around 100 people, including local councillors, youngsters from Bruges, and Polanco, Spain, and Umkirch, Germany, the other two towns the French commune is twinned with, packed the hall to enjoy a night of music, speeches, food and burgeoning friendships.

Jim Leishman, Fife’s Provost, Brigitte Terraza, mayor of Bruges, and Linda Judge, chair of Levenmouth Twinning Association, were among those who delivered speeches to the audience, before the dignitaries swapped presents.

And once the papers were signed, musicians including the Coaltown Daisies entertained the packed room.

This weekend’s reciprocal signing comes almost a year after delegates representing Levenmouth travelled to Bruges to sign the twinning agreement.

Last year, children from Levenmouth, joined by councillors, singers, dancers and representatives of other local bodies attended the first signing, marking the beginning of the agreement. However, for it to be finalised, a delegation from the French town had to visit Levenmouth for a reciprocal signing.

The event came during a packed week of visits and activities for the French visitors.

The delegation travelled to Holyrood, Stirling, St Andrews and more, getting to experience the best Scotland has to offer.

Speaking to the Mail at the signing, Cllr Ken Caldwell, chair of Levenmouth Area Committee, said it was “great to get the French visitors over here”.

“This offers great opportunities to foster links, especially for young people,” he said. “It’ll give them the chance to broaden their horizons and see other cultures, see how other people live and work.”

Linda, who had organised much of the trip, seconded Cllr Caldwell’s comments, adding: “There are huge benefits for the area, especially for young people. We’re looking at organising work experience as well as other exchange projects, so the potential is enormous.

“We’ve been involved in a number of projects sending people from here over to Bruges, so we’re now looking at bringing people from Bruges here. We’ve got a few plans in the pipeline.”