What is Town Twinning?

Town twinning developed in Europe after the Second World War as a way to foster links and friendships between communities to prevent future conflicts. Town twinning refers to reciprocal partnerships that promote cultural and commercial links between villages, towns, cities and local authorities. The terms ‘twin town’ or ‘twin cities’ is used in the UK and Europe. Europe also uses ‘partnership towns,’ ‘partner towns,’ and ‘friendship towns’ to refer to these arrangements while ‘sister cities’ is more often used in the US and the global south. In the UK, town twinning is an entirely informal and voluntary arrangement. There is no fixed process to be followed and no government guidance or legislation.

See here a House of Commons Article on Town Twinning

Twinning Q&A

Why Kelkheim?

High Wycombe and Kelkheim have been twinned cities since 1985, based on their twin focuses on furniture and trading.

Are any other towns twinned with Wycombe?

High Wycombe does have a link agreement with Kingstown in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and other proposals for linking and twinning have been made, for example with Zhytomyr in Ukraine, and with cities in Kashmir, but Kelkheim remains Wycombe's only twin

Does it cost the local taxpayer?

Twinning costs only a tiny fraction of the town's budget, covered by Buckinghamshire Council, of no more than £10'000 a year. The Association itself does not cost anything and is supported by donations and membership fees.

How can I support this?

Please make sure to follow us on facebook, and join up as a member! We have many different ways of keeping in touch and being a supporter.