Anglo-German Club Paderborn with new British Patron and Secretary

At the Annual General Meeting of the Anglo-German Club/Deutsch-Englischer Club Paderborn (DEC), the new Commander of the British Forces in Paderborn, Colonel Mike Foster-Brown, introduced himself as British Patron of the Club. The task of the club, which was founded 58 years ago, is to foster German-British relations in the city and the surrounding area. Traditionally, therefore, the club has both a German and a British Patron. Colonel Foster-Brown recently succeeded Colonel Tim Hill as Commander of the NATO Holding Forward Base Sennelager and thus also takes over this venerable position alongside the German patron, Landrat Christoph Rüther.
At the annual meeting of the DEC, most of the committee was re-elected: Angie Reeh as German Chairperson, Lt.Col. Danny Wild as British Chairperson, Volker Greaves as Treasurer as well as Prof. Dr. Ilka Mindt and Heather Lewis as further Committee members.
As the long-time Secretary Saskia Kaufhold did not stand for re-election, Petra Fischer takes over this function. In recent years, Petra Fischer has put her heart and soul into maintaining close contact with Bolton, the English twin town of the city of Paderborn. She organised the popular digital QuizNights, a welcome opportunity especially during the pandemic to maintain closer contact with Boltonians. It is worth noting that Petra and her husband Wilfried Fischer live in Osnabrück and, out of love for the English way of life, travel from there to all club events.
The committee is now strengthened by Ina Maiwald, English and trainee teacher, who has been particularly involved in the DEC by introducing the annual English reading competition at Paderborn schools.

At the Annual General Meeting, Chairperson Angie Reeh reported on club life in the past year. She emphasised: “The beginning was bumpy due to the pandemic; we could only start our programme in March. The highlight was certainly the “Platinum Jubilee Party in the Park”, a joyous celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s 70th Throne Jubilee in the grounds of Normandy Barracks with scones, Nepalese curries, Raffles and welly boot throwing, attended by a proud 120 club friends.”
Only a short time later, the monarch passed away at the ripe age of 96. It was with respect and deep sorrow that the world bid her farewell. Not only, but especially the members of the Anglo-German Club considered it a great honour that a few days later Prince Edward travelled to Paderborn and many were able to express their condolences to him personally in front of the city’s town hall.
A varied programme was again presented for the coming club year, with something for everyone. Dates and further information will be shortly available on the website www.dec-paderborn.de.

Since Christmas in Paderborn is unthinkable without the Anglo-German (Christmas Carol) Services, the two chairpersons Angie Reeh and Danny Wild are already looking forward to the fact that the two popular Christmas services will also take place in 2023: on Tuesday, 5 December, the Christingle children’s service in the Abdinghofkirche and on Thursday, 7 December, the Christmas Carol Service in the High Cathedral of Paderborn.

Photo:
The board of the German-English Club Paderborn 2023.
Lt.Col Danny Wild, Heather Lewis, Volker Greaves, Saskia Kaufhold, Angie Reeh, Petra Fischer, Ilka Mindt, Brit. Patron Col Mike Foster-Brown and Ina Maiwald.
Photo: Paul Deitch