February 2007
 A
VISIT by a group of business people from Rotherham’s
partner town of Riesa in Germany has been hailed
as a great success.
Whilst in the borough,
the delegation took part in an English Language course
offered by the Language College at Wath Comprehensive
School in a bid to improve their English skills.
Nigel Bemrose, Director of the Language
College, said: “Our German guests have worked
very hard. They have made a real effort and some
excellent progress. I hope they will be confident enough
to use their English when they get home.”
As part of the programme for the two
week stay, Rotherham Borough Council presented its
vision for the future development of Rotherham and
set up a range of meetings with local businesses. Visits
to major development sites helped to demonstrate how
Rotherham is regenerating its economy following the
demise of traditional coal and steel industries.
The partnership with Riesa was established
in 1998 due to the common problems being experienced
by the two towns following the closure of the steel
plants and restructuring of the economy.
The group also made a visit to the
town’s new radio station, Rother FM, where Riesa
TV boss Marco Branig was interviewed about his trip
to Rotherham.
Joanne Wehrle, Partnership Officer
for European and Regional Affairs, who helped to put
together the programme for the visit, said: “This
was an excellent opportunity to show off the town and
promote all the exciting new development that is taking
place and planned for the future. By sharing best practice
and making new links we can strengthen the partnership
between our two towns.”
“A big thank you must also
go to the host families who offered accommodation
and showed some true Yorkshire hospitality to our
guests.”
But the last word must come from the
Riesa visitors themselves who said, “We have
met some very nice people during our stay. The visits
to the companies were very interesting and we were
impressed to see how the Council is working together
with local business for the benefit of Rotherham.”
"We have seen the good things
that are happening for children in Rotherham to provide
them with a better future. We were impressed with
the education and especially Rotherham Ready. This
is a very good project and we shall be taking it
back to Riesa as best practice. We have a similar
project to this in Riesa but Rotherham Ready is better."
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