Andrea Hunt, a long-standing member of the Freetown Society in Hull, introduced the Speaker, Kathleen Guthrie. Kathleen is an Education Consultant in Global Learning .
Hull has strong links with Freetown due to William Wilberforce’s work with the abolition of the Slave Trade and Hull was the first city to twin with a town outside Europe. The Schools partnership is not a fund-raising scheme. Councils, Churches and schools have close links in both cities.
Primary and Junior schools in Hull are twinned with schools in Freetown, Sierra Leone. They share projects and are in regular contact with each other. One such project eg. is the study of local rivers. This entails pupils from a school in Hull to compare say, the Humber or river Hull with rivers in or near Freetown. A hairdressers job in Hull has been compared to that of a hairdresser in Freetown The children study a great variety of things so that each child learns about life in both countries. The project has provided close contacts, friendships and a wealth of knowledge.
2 members from each school in Hull meet together regularly to discuss things and the same happens in Freetown. Ideas are exchanged
Kathleen showed slides of various projects, particularly the Avenues Bicycle Project. The ABP collect cycles locally (in various conditions) repair them and send them in a large container to Sierra Leone. Last year they decided that the large shipping container could be adapted into a classroom and this project is almost completed.
Hull, City of Culture has provided much information for all.
After answering several questions, Kathleen was thanked by Margaret Jenkins and presented with a bouquet of flowers.