Venskabsbysamarbejdet mellem Ballerup og East Kilbride kan fejre 60-års jubilæum i år. East Kilbride er en forstad til Glasgow i Skotland. Gennem årene har der været udveksling, rejser og tætte samarbejder mellem de to kommuner. I Ballerup er svømmehallen opkaldt efter byen, ligesom der er East Kilbride ligger en multihal ved navn Ballerup.
“Jeg havde fornøjelsen at være med Ballerup Skoleorkester i East Kilbride i 1988. Jeg var i forældrebestyrelsen, og begge vores piger har spillet i orkestret. Jeg husker turen som rigtig hyggelig, og værterne var utroligt søde og venlige. Vi fik set Edinburgh og omegnen og gav blandt andet en lille koncert på Johnnie Walker Whisky destilleriet.” fortæller Henning Petersen.
Har du været med sportsklubben på tur til East Kilbride, eller måske var du vært for skoleelever fra Skotland, da du havde børn i skolealderen? Skriv din historie herunder.
Du er også velkommen til at sende din erindring på mail til ballerupmuseum@balk.dk og send gerne billeder med. Din historie og dine billeder vil vi gerne bruge til formidlingsaktiviteter i forbindelse med jubilæet. Vi gemmer også erindringerne og billederne til at bevare historien om venskabssamarbejdet mellem de to kommuner. Hvis du sender materiale til os, så giver du samtidig museet lov til at bruge det og gemme det.
Kim and Eilidh
We met for the first time back in 2000 when we both were 12 years old during a twinning link visit between East Kilbride gymnastics club and Ballerup gymnastics. Unfortunately the twinning link lapsed for a period of 5 years after this and we unfortunately lost touch.
Kim had actually been over on twinning link visits previous to 2000 but this was with football twinning link groups and we didn’t meet at that point.
In 2006, when we both were 18, Ballerup visited EKGC again and we were both still a part of our clubs. It was here that we realised there was a connection between us and from then on we visited each other every month for a year and a half until Kim eventually moved to Scotland in 2008.
We lived with Eilidh’s parents at first before we moved out and stayed in a number of different rented flats and houses before finally buying our own house together in 2013.
In 2015 we had our first daughter, Mila, who we believe could possibly be the first twinning link baby.
2017 was the year we married in the Crutherland Hotel, East Kilbride. It was a fantastic day where our two families came together – we had both Scottish and Danish traditions including bagpipes and tying the knot along with a Danish first dance and cutting the brides veil for good luck. We also had the Ballerup-East Kilbride twinning link friendship knot on display to show how we met.
Kim’s dad, Rene, who unfortunately passed away shortly before the wedding, also had a strong connection with East Kilbride through the twinning link. He came over as a young boy with the first football team from Ballerup to visit East Kilbride and had been over many times to visit friends he had made many years ago.
In 2020 during the covid lockdown we completed our family with the birth of our second daughter, Ania.
Eilidh is now one of the head coaches of the sports acrobatics section at EKGC where both Mila and Ania are now gymnasts.
It is clear to both of us that, without the strong twinning link and friendships between East Kilbride and Ballerup, we would never have met and we thank everyone involved over the years for their hard work and generosity. We hope that the friendship between the two towns will continue for many years and that we can play our own part in making these visits unforgettable to so many children and adults who will start their own adventures and connections
Tak for den fine historie omen tur i vandet samt tur med gymnastikhold.
Jeg var, som formand i Ballerup Gymnastikforening, første gang i East Kilbride i 1990 med et hold dygtige gymnaster: Team Boys and Girls, sammen med holdets dygtige træner Claus Klein, hvor vi udviklede et godt og varmt venskab med de skotske gymnaster, deres trænere og ikke mindst forældre, som var utrolig gode værtsfamilier for vores børn og unge. Gennem mange år var vi henholdsvis i East Kilbride og vores skotske venner på genvisit her hvert andet år, hvilket var givende for alle og gode venskaber blev skabt. Under vores besøg i East Kilbride stiftede vores gymnaster for første gang bekendskab med en springgrav, som udmøntede sig i at vi også fik en sådan her i Ballerup på den daværende Parkskole, som var vores primære træningssted, til stor glæde for foreningens børn og unge gymnaster.
Da East Kilbride badet var ved at blive åbnet med stor ståhej i den lave ende med tale af borgmesteren, hoppede min gymnasiekammerat, der ikke kunne svømme, i den dybe ende, så jeg måtte bjærge ham. Heldigvis undgik dette mediernes opmærksomhed – men vi snakker stadig om det!
Glad for, at jeg netop havde bestået livredderprøven:-)