The Lord Mayor of Kingston upon Hull has congratulated one of Hull’s sister cities on reaching a significant anniversary, in the same week that a link with a different sister city is also being celebrated.
The US city of Raleigh has reached 40 years of its Sister Cities programme, which started with its link to Hull.
Meanwhile, a partnership that goes back even further is also being marked, as Freetown Week is taking place.
Raleigh, the capital city of the state of North Carolina, has had a formal relationship with East Yorkshire’s only city since 1986, where a mutually beneficial arrangement has allowed the two forward-thinking and ambitious locations to develop social, cultural and trade ties.
A gala event to celebrate the programme, which also honours Raleigh’s other Sister Cities including Rostock in Germany and Nairobi in Kenya, is being held in the US city later this week.
The Lord Mayor, Councillor Maria Coward, received an invite to the gala, which will celebrate 40 years of fostering international relations and cultural exchange, whilst also raising funds to invest in youth scholarships, exchange programmes, internships, and international education initiatives.
She said: “It was a huge honour to be invited to Raleigh’s celebration of the Sister Cities programme.
“We’ve not been able to make the practicalities work to allow me to attend, but I send my huge thanks to our friends in North Carolina for the invitation.
“Whilst I can’t be there in person, I have written to Mary Clare Freeman, President of Raleigh Sister Cities, to congratulate Raleigh for reaching this anniversary, and to reiterate the continued support of Hull for our partnership.”
Recent activity between the two cities has included visits to the Guildhall from Hull-born David Robinson, the Director of the Executive Mansion in Raleigh, which is the home of North Carolina’s State Governor.
The formal relationship between Hull and Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone, goes back to the forming of a civic partnership in 1979.
But the common bonds between the two locations have existed for centuries via Hull-born William Wilberforce and his work in the slavery abolition movement.
Freetown was established in 1787 as a British colony for the re-settlement of freed slaves, and a large suburb there is named after Wilberforce.
Among the activities during Freetown Week, the Lord Mayor will host an event at the Guildhall, ahead of attending a service at Princes Avenue Methodist Church on Sunday.
The Leader of Hull City Council, Councillor Mike Ross, said: “It’s important for us to continue to mark our long association with Freetown, as we continue to develop civic, cultural and economic partnerships.
“Whilst our association with Raleigh is a relatively more recent one, it is great to see them reach the 40th anniversary of their Sister Cities programme.
“Hull, like Raleigh, is a city with an international outlook, including providing a main port gateway into Europe via another of our sister cities, Rotterdam.
“It’s clear that Hull and Raleigh, as well as Freetown, Rotterdam and our other global relations, have shared ambitions and experiences that we can use to inform, educate and prosper together.”
For more information about Raleigh, visit Raleigh, N.C., | Hotels, Restaurants, Things to Do and Events (visitraleigh.com).
For more information about the link between Hull and Freetown, visit Welcome to The Freetown Society – Hull
For more information about the Lord Mayor, visit Lord Mayor of Hull | Hull.