After worrying that we may be short of people and ideas to continue running the association, we had a very well-attended and constructive AGM and managed to elect a new chair, secretary and treasurer.

The new officers are: Patrick Gray OBE (Chair), Cllr Mike Rowley (Secretary) and Jenny Houston (Treasurer). Patrick Gray was a long-time director of the Midlands Co-operative Society and is a former City councillor. Mike Rowley is Oxford’s Deputy Lord Mayor and visited Leon in 2013.

Christian Bonilla (Vice-Chair), Deirdre d’Arcy (membership) and Michael Gross (publicity) stay in their previous roles.

The Oxford Clarion reports:

Oxford’s twin town arrangement with Leon, Nicaragua, will continue after the Leon Association was revived at a Town Hall meeting. The cities were twinned 40 years ago to show support for the Sandinista government, but dwindling volunteer involvement had raised fears for its continuation. “I am thrilled that the first Oxford link with a city in the Global South will continue,” said outgoing chair and former Lord Mayor John Tanner. “Politics has turned sour in Nicaragua and it is impossible to have official links. But the association still supports clean water and education projects.” This week’s City Council budget allocated an extra £20,000 to support volunteers in town twinning groups, with amendments which proposed to spend the money on other Oxford community projects defeated.

The news was also reported in the Oxford Mail.