Ambitious new project for link between Hay-on-Wye and Timbuktu (From Hereford Times)

Ambitious new project for link between Hay-on-Wye and Timbuktu

7:00am Wednesday 11th January 2012 in Hay-on-Wye

THE link between Hay-on- Wye and Timbuktu looks set to get even stronger thanks to an ambitious new project.

The Two Towns One World project has been set up to raise the local profile of Hay’s twin town and highlight the benefits of twinning.

Hay Town Council has appointed Kate Bingley as project co-ordinator and she will spend the next year encouraging residents to form closer ties with Timbuktu.

Kate, whose role is funded by the European Commission and Welsh Government, has moved from London to take up the job in Hay.

“This exciting new project aims to improve understanding of global development issues such as health and education among people here,” said Kate.

“We’ll be working closely with local schools and community groups to increase awareness of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals for poverty reduction, as well as the specific context of Timbuktu.”

Hay was twinned with Timbuktu in 2007, following a national competition.

The town, much larger than its border relative, sits on the edge of the Sahara in Mali, west Africa.

Kate has a wealth of experience working with international charities such as Christian Aid and Oxfam in the Balkans and west Africa.

“I first visited Mali in 2005, when I travelled to the Festival in the Desert, near Timbuktu,” said Kate.

“Over three days, I met musicians from all over Mali. I was really struck by how these leading musicians engaged with the key socio-economic issues affecting Mali, from access to education and health services to the demise of the cotton trade.

“Hay projects its own cultural identity far and wide, and so it is a constant source of wonder to me that it has a population of just 1,500. This small yet vibrant town of books seems aptly twinned with Timbuktu, a town best known for its libraries and ancient manuscripts.”

Welcoming Kate, Hay mayor Mary Fellowes said: “Mutual understanding, respect and solidarity are at the heart of Two Towns One World, and we hope that through this project, the relationship between the two towns will be strengthened, and the twinning will become more meaningful for ordinary people living in Hay and Timbuktu.”