A blossoming friendship with a town on the Palestinian West Bank could lead to Northampton having a new twin.
A group was formed in May with the intention of twinning Northampton with Al-Bireh, a large town on the Palestinian West Bank, to raise awareness of the problems suffered by its people.
And members of the Northampton Al-Bireh (Palestine) Friendship Association visited the town last month to look at potential links.
Julia Bush, who was one of the visitors to Al-Bireh, said: “It started with individual people and gradually more people came on board. We visited a school, library, football club and the municipal offices.
“All town twinnings start off informally. We see it as a people to people thing. That is the most important thing, to give a sense of support and friendship.
“We know town twinning is popular and we just thought, why not outside of Europe?”
For more information call Northampton 722167 or email NABPFA@gmail.com
Julia Bush and Kate Scott travelled to Al-Bireh to set up potential links with schools, libraries, sports teams and the town council. They delivered a letter from the Mayor of Northampton, Roger Conroy, to the newly-elected mayor of Al-Bireh, together with the gift of a Northampton porcelain plate.
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