OPINION: Harrogate can hold its heads high on the international stage - former headteacher Dennis Richards

Here in Harrogate, we have every reason to hold our heads high. For a variety of reasons, some cultural, some historical and some poignant, Harrogate finds itself in a ‘sister’, or ‘twinning’ or partnership arrangement with four towns/cities in very different parts of the world. Harrogate International Partnerships has managed to avoid the worst consequences of the political earthquake of 2016, given that its already established links are in both the Commonwealth and Europe. For further clarity, it is important to state that HIP receives no council funding and relies entirely on donations and volunteers to facilitate its work.

While the fundamental aims have always been educational and cultural, the parameters for its role are constantly under review. The primary aim is to keep these links alive for future generations. Two of the links date back almost 70 years. Having said that, HIP has also come to appreciate that all four towns have sports clubs, musical groups, scouts, and of course schools, all offering potential for new avenues of inestimable value to explore.

Such is currently the case with Harrogate’s historical link with Wellington in New Zealand. On the surface, the long-established link, going back to the early Fifties, seems a strange one. Wellington, with a population of 217,000 and a capital city on the world stage, partnered with a North Yorkshire tourist town. Kate Spencer, the HIP New Zealand representative, is dual UK and New Zealand citizen. Curious as to why her two identities have had particular significance in Harrogate for many years, her enquiries brought her into contact with Elizabeth Smith, the Public Engagement Co-ordinator for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery at Stonefall.

23 New Zealand RAF personnel are buried in the cemetery. It was that poignant fact, which initially led the Wellington authorities to seek a permanent link with Harrogate, where their fellow citizens rest in peace, almost seventy years ago. Building on Elizabeth’s meticulous historical research into the CWGC archives, Kate has an on-going project to make their individual stories more widely known.

Kate returned from visiting family in New Zealand this week. Confessing herself to be surprised by the level of interest in Wellington in relation to her visit, Kate was warmly welcomed by a number of dignitaries including senior officers of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, Wellington’s International Relations manager, culminating in a meeting with the Mayor of Wellington, Andy Foster.

The Mayor of Harrogate Coun Trevor Chapman has been a warm supporter of HIP during his term of office, as have all his predecessors, and gave Kate mementos and messages from Harrogate to take with her to Wellington. Kate has returned with similar gifts for Coun Chapman, to be handed over in the Council Chamber on March 22.

The following month, in agreement with The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Harrogate will mark ANZAC Day, a National Day of Remembrance in both Australia and New Zealand. The event will take place on the afternoon of Sunday, April 24 (bearing in mind that the official ANZAC day of April 25 will already be underway in New Zealand, given the time difference). It will be a public event, with further details to be announced. What we can know for certain is that Tewit Band, well known for its internationalist outlook, will be heavily involved. The band has further announced that they will visit Montecatini Terme, Harrogate’s beautiful Italian ‘twin’ at the beginning of August. Global Britain in action as well as words.