Here at Llandeilo Town Twinning Assocation, we aim to promote social, cultural, and educational links between the communities of Llandeilo and Le Conquet in Brittany, France. We've been doing it since 1980, making us the oldest twinning assocation in the county.
We're a voluntary association, with no paid staff. We like to think we're a friendly bunch, so if after looking though the site you'd like to join us, please get in touch. There's a bit more information on the "About us" page.
Our twin town, Le Conquet, is in Brittany, in the north west of France. Its a lovely fishing port, famous for its crab. There's a lot more to it than just crab though, so have a look at the page about it on this site.
Welcome to the
Llandeilo Town Twinning Association
Twinned with Le Conquet, Brittany, France
We hope you enjoy looking around our new website.
We're in the process of building the site up, so have a browse but don't forget to come back soon to see any changes.
This site is designed to be viewed on a desktop or laptop, so apologies if it doesn't work on your tablet or phone!
If you prefer, feel free to find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ltta1980 or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/llandeilotwinning/
Breaking News:
We are expecting a visit from our friends in Le Conquet over Easter, April 16 - 20.
We will publish all activities over those days on here and on our social media.
If you are interested in hosting our visitors please get in touch via LlandeiloTownTwin@outlook.com
Save the date: We plan a get together on February 8th - more details to come
If you would like to get involved, please email LlandeiloTownTwin@outlook.com or follow the Association on Facebook ttps://www.facebook.com/ltta1980 or their website https://www.llandeilotwinning.co.uk/
Who We Are
The Longest Standing Twinning Assocation in Carmarthenshire
Here at Llandeilo Town Twinning Assocation, we aim to promote social, cultural, and educational links between the communities of Llandeilo and Le Conquet in Brittany, France. We've been doing it since 1980, making us the oldest twinning assocation in the county.
We're a voluntary association, with no paid staff. We like to think we're a friendly bunch, so if after looking though the site you'd like to join us, please get in touch. There's a bit more information on the "About us" page.
Our twin town, Le Conquet, is in Brittany, in the north west of France. Its a lovely fishing port, famous for its crab. There's a lot more to it than just crab though, so have a look at the page about it on this site.
What we do
Connecting two towns
We're all about fostering friendship and understanding between the residents of Llandeilo and Le Conquet. The main way we do this is with exchange visits; every year, taking turns, we visit each others community for a few days, staying with local families and getting out and about to appreciate each others culture, language, cuisine and location. There's a dinner and usually at least one other big social event, plus local visits.
In April 2025 we will receive a visit from our friends in Le Conquet, Thu 16th to Sunday 20th.
Many of our members have been staying with the same families for years, and have built up close friendships.
Summer 2024 in Le Conquet
Our Llandeilo Town Twinning Association took to the sea over the Bank holiday weekend in August to visit their Breton counter parts in Le Conquet in what was the 22nd such visit since the union was formed.
Everyone stayed as house guests with French twinning members, embracing the foreign culture, learning about their way of life and by doing so forming bonds beyond what a fleeting tourist visit would allow.
The hosts put on a full programme of banquets, music and cabaret entertainment as well as trips to town markets, a museum and other parts of Bretagne, and yet, leaving time for the paired Welsh and Breton small groups to explore on their own.
“After the night crossing on the Ferry I felt tired and on the back foot,” admits committee member Christoph Fischer. “But then we had so much fun, my host and myself were the last to leave the restaurant on the last night despite my resolve for just one early night.”Llandeilo
Mayor Charlotte Morgan and Mayoress Charlotte Walker joined the group on their trip, formally addressing the congregation and meeting with Le Conquet Mayor Jean Luc Milin where they compared notes and discussed the similarities and differences of the two towns. Mayoress Charlotte Walker conducted the recital of a Welsh sing off between the two groups, while young and old musicians from Brittanny spurned people on to dance.
"I did not know what to expect,” says Mayor Charlotte Morgan, “but what I discovered was a quirky and truly unique French-English-Breton-Welsh blended community, that I believe we should not only embrace but celebrate.
"On a sentimental note, one of the founding members, Mair, had struggled with her health and had to miss a few trips to Le Conquet in the past. This year she joined at the last minute, and was able to meet up with one of the Breton founding members, who had moved away since, but returned to le Conquet to meet up with her.
“It’s been encouraging that there is also an influx of new members with children,” says Twinning chair Linda Durgan. “There should be a few more young twinners coming over to Llandeilo next time and Llandeilo Youth Club has been invited to the Le Conquet camping site next year.”
“Our French counterparts are expected over Easter 2025,” says social secretary Brenda Vautier,” but we will organise a few more social and fundraising events, and hopefully an exchange of exhibitions.”
Helping children to learn
Bursary scheme
One of the things we're really proud of is our bursary scheme. This provides financial assistance to students who will benefit from visiting Le Conquet. We've only got limited funds, so there are some rules and we can't say yes to everyone, but a proportion of our fund raising goes into the bursary fund, and we occasionally get donations. If you'd like to make a donation directly to the
bursary fund, please get in contact with us! We also host French children coming over from Le Conquet to help with their education.
Supporting the community
Funding good causes
If we have any spare cash, we support local charities and good causes. Most recently it has been Wales Air Ambulance.
Fundraising
It all costs money....
Organising trips for our French guests, supporting students and local good causes means we need an income. We pay for our own travel to France, and for any visits and events in this country. To raise the money we need, we organise occasional socials, raffles, and quiz nights.
Undoubtedly our best event is the annual Three Parks Challenge, which has been held 5 times, and is now part of the local running clubs' calendar. Why not come along in 2022 and participate - there's a walking event for those who don't look good in Lycra too. There's a page on the website if you want to know more.
In 2019, we even had one of our visitors from France compete (pictured) - and win a trophy!
During the Covid-19 lockdown, Llandeilo Town Twinning Association got involved in an initiative set up by sporting associations within the town. As many individuals were unable to get out and about, the cricket club and football club decided to fund Sunday lunches that were delivered around Llandeilo. The lunches were prepared by the Hen Vic pub, which was only able to offer a takeaway service due to the restrictions. As time went on, other associations were invited to join in to continue the good work. The Association funded the lunches for one week in July 2020, with members delivering them to the recipients' front doors. The photo shows Catharine Bleasdale, the Chair of the Association at the time, delivering a meal to an older member of the community.
Learning French
It's not like school at all......
A few of our members are very good French speakers, but most of us need a bit of practice, so we run French lessons to help us when we meet up with our French friends. The emphasis is on communicating, not grammar, so it's not like school. We normally meet in someone's house or a local pub, so there's usually a cuppa to be enjoyed to help things along.
You don't have to be a member to join us, so if this sounds like your "tasse de thé", why not get in touch?
Surviving lockdowns.....
It's been a bit quiet.....
Like everyone else, our activities were hit hard by Covid-19, leading to us missing a trip to France and their return trip to see us, plus having to cancel the 3 Parks Challenge and social activities since early 2020. However, even though we were not with our friends in Le Conquet to celebrate our 40th anniversary in 2020, we did manage to organise a memorial plaque and a video message to go with it. Click on the image to the right to see the video, and look on the Gallery to see it safely arrived.
We also attracted some new members, who joined us for our Picnic in the Park in August. Since then we've had a Crepe Night, our AGM and are planning our Christmas Cheese and Wine Party - why not come along and join in the fun too?
If you would like to know more about either of our twin towns, or twinning between Wales and Brittany,
try some of the following sites:
Wikipedia article on Le Conquet
Le Conquet Official website (French language)
Wikipedia article on Llandeilo
Llandeilo Town Council website
A list of other Welsh towns twinned with Brittany
Please note, Llandeilo Town Twinning Association is not responsible for the content on any of the above sites.
Our only affiliation is with Comite de Jumelage du Conquet, as our twinning partner.