East London to meet East Coast in Olympics exchange

FAMILIES in North Yorkshire’s coastal communities welcomed a group of youngsters from the London Borough of Hackney at the weekend as part of a twinning partnership which has been launched in the lead-up to the 2012 Olympics.

As the Yorkshire Post revealed in July, Scarborough has agreed the sport and cultural partnership with Hackney for a series of exchanges to bring together young people from the two different communities in the build-up to the Games next summer.

The weekend’s visit, arranged by community support group Seachange, saw the guests visit Dalby Forest and Filey Youth Centre, where they enjoyed visual arts and music workshops in the centre’s new multi-media recording studio. The Hackney youngsters also documented their visit by recording a video.

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North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for youth services, Coun Arthur Barker, said: “We hope this will be one of many exchanges in what promises to be an exciting and rewarding initiative.

“It is a chance for young people to explore different places and ways of life as well as experiences in common and work together to develop sporting and cultural opportunities towards London 2012 in a very positive way.”

The Mayor of Scarborough, Coun John Blackburn, met the two groups during the visit.

He said: “I am delighted that through the East meets East partnership, the young people from Hackney have been given the opportunity to visit our diverse borough and share their once in a lifetime experiences with people their own age.”