Ayrshire town celebrates 15-year link with Italian twin
The Prestwick Town Twinning Association has celebrated the 15th anniversary of their association with Ariccia in Central Italy
An Ayrshire town has celebrated a 15-year link with its Italian twin.
Prestwick and the Italian town Ariccia signed their twinning agreement in 2010 with Ariccia hosting the latest get together, 15 years on.
Ariccia is a town within the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Lazio region of Central Italy.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the towns were unable to celebrate their 10th anniversary in 2020 so they decided to make up for it five years on.
A tour of Chigi Palace - the official residence of the Prime Minister of Italy - was followed by a ceremony and concert involving the Dr Gianluca Staccoli, Mayor of the Municipality of Ariccia.
The visitors, including eight new members of Prestwick Town Twinning Association, were given a tour of some of the Castelli Romani and treated to an evening reception in il Borgo - a local restaurant outwith the city.
Speaking to Ayrshire Live, Rhona Allanach, president of Prestwick Town Twinning Association, said: "In May, a group from Prestwick Town Twinning Association visited Ariccia, in Italy. Over 15 years ago, the council signed an agreement to be twinned with this town which is about a 30 minute drive from Rome.
"Having missed the reciprocal 10th, it was decided to commemorate the 15th anniversary.
"The hosts did so in style, with a tour of the Chigi Palace followed by a ceremony and concert involving the mayor and musicians, dancers and groups from within the community.
"A buffet reception was held in the summer dining room of the palace. The following evening a reception was held in il Borgo - a beautiful restaurant in the countryside outwith the city.
"Prestwick members were delighted to return to Italy to renew old relationships and introduce eight new members to the Italian hospitality and way of life.
"Visiting places you would never find on your own and sampling the local cuisine and customs of the area, really makes everyone feel part of a family.
"The host families do everything to make their guests feel at home. The visit is always memorable, interesting and fun.
"At a time when the world is unstable and Europe is more fragmented than ever, the aims and values of town twinning are more important than ever.
"Remaining close and developing friendships is more desirable than it has been especially for the future of our younger generations.
"Town twinning is alive and well in Prestwick and three different cities of Ariccia, Vandalia and Lichtenfels. The members are an active fun loving, bunch of folk who have special memories and relationships both at home and with those in our sister cities.
"This is a community group who welcome new people. Don't miss out on wonderful experiences. Everyone is invited to join in. Find out more on Facebook or email rhona@ptta.org."
Last year, Prestwick Town Twinning Association celebrated 50 years of twinning with Lichtenfels, Germany after the association was set up in 1974.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time Out Dubai
an hour ago
- Time Out Dubai
8 (really nice) places in Dubai to go to between 5pm and 7pm for drinks and bites
So, you've finished work for the day and have some time to kill? With the summer season almost in swing and life slowing down a little bit, it's quite tempting to meet up with friends for after work drinks and nibbles. In Paris, they've got this concept called 'cinq à sept' – five to seven. It's when you've finished work for the day and the sun is starting to set, so you've got a golden window of opportunity where you can boost your mood after a day at work. Typically, people here use this time to commute, to run errands or to stick around in the office. But if you decide to do it like the French do, you can use this time to brighten up your day with a little tipple at a really nice restaurant bar. With that in mind, here's a list of our favourite fancy after-work spots. Eugène Eugène After work drinks in Dubai. Credit: Eugène Eugène. Available daily from 4pm to 7pm, you can take advantage of the L'Apéritif d'Eugène, a French-inspired offering, where for Dhs110 per person, you'll get a curated selection of two mixed drinks or mocktails, complemented by the chef's assortment of gourmet appetizers. Definitely the place to be for evening drinks. Dhs110. Daily from 4pm-7pm. Kempinski Mall of the Emirates, Al Barsha (04 379 8963). Isola After work drinks in Dubai. Credit: Isola. Looking for a picturesque sundowner spot to unwind? The menu there has a selection of creative mixed drinks and cicchetti bites you can order. Thu 5pm-8pm. Jumeirah Islands Clubhouse, Jumeirah Islands (04 583 3124). La Petite Maison Restaurant & Bar After work drinks in Dubai. Credit: La Petite Maison Restaurant & Bar. LPM Restaurant & Bar is doing exactly what the Parisians do with its Cinq à Sept bar programme. Here, between 5pm and 7pm, you can choose from a selection of beverages with glasses of grape each priced at Dhs44 and mixed drinks at Dhs48. Then you can pick one complimentary bar bite from a pretty stellar selection of small dishes, including smoked burrata dip with crispy zucchini flower, crudités and beef cecina. The best part is you can walk in without having to make a booking. Mon-Fri 5pm-7pm. Gate Village, DIFC (04 439 0505). Tapasake After work drinks in Dubai. Credit: Tapasake. Embrace sunset vibes at Tapasake on weekdays from 5 pm to 8pm at the Terrace Bar and Pool Bar. There will be a special Japanese Nikkei offering with beverages and tapas. With drinks starting from Dhs55 per person for a glass of Italian sparkling, Dhs56 for a glass of pink grape and Dhs50 for a glass of draught hops at the pool bar, you can sip in style for less. Sun-Thu, 5pm-8pm. One&Only One Za'abeel, Trade Centre Area (04 666 1617). Onda by Pierchic After work drinks in Dubai. Credit: Pierchic Wander up the pier at Jumeirah Al Qasr for a sunset drink and you'll have some pretty magnificent views of the Arabian Gulf and Burj Al Arab. The bar is open to everyone, whether you're dining at end-of-the-pier Italian restaurant Pierchic, or just in the mood for a bit of sea air with your drinks. Either way, if you're after pre-dinner drinks with your date, or on the hunt for a spot to unwind as the sun sets, this open-air deck suspended above the water should be your next go-to. Sun-Thu 5pm-midnight, Fri-Sat 5pm-1am. Pierchic, Jumeirah Al Qasr (800 323 232). Sucre After work drinks in Dubai. Credit: Sucre Sucre also has a special aperitivo menu available from Monday to Friday between 4pm and 8pm. Here you can choose from a selection of mixed drinks, hops and grape for Dhs38. Each drink on the menu comes with a paired bar bite. These include stuffed olives, anchovy bruschetta, pickled pepper croquettes with goose ham and burrata fig bruschetta. From Dhs38. Mon-Fri 4pm-8pm. Gate Village, DIFC (04 340 0829). Tagomago After work drinks in Dubai. Credit: Tagomago Head to Tagomago right after work and you'll catch the quiet period before people start arriving for dinner. There's no better place to enjoy the sunset on Palm Jumeirah. The Balearic-inspired beachfront restaurant features a fully Spanish menu, several bars and stunning interiors. We prefer to sit at the bar right at the back overlooking the Arabian Sea and Burj Al Arab at a distance. Order a Spanish pitcher and a small bowl of blood orange-stuffed Spanish olives as a snack and you definitely won't regret it. Daily 10am-1am. Azure Residence, The Palm Jumeirah (04 832 6620). Uchi After work drinks in Dubai. Credit: Uchi. A DIFC dweller? Grab your friends and head to this little Japanese eatery and take advantage of Uchi's 'power hour' between 5pm and 7pm. Here, you can choose from a premium selection of Japanese beverages as well as fine grape and hops. Take advantage of a 15 percent discount between 5pm and 7pm every weekday. Or take the experience up a notch by pairing your drink with a selection of small bites. Mon-Fri 5pm-7pm. Gate Village, DIFC (04 298 5044). Need a reservation in the meantime? New restaurants in Dubai that you need to visit right now From casual eats to fine dining, there's bound to be a new venue you'll want to try 86 best restaurants in Dubai, as tested by us Tried and tested by us 25 of the best restaurants in DIFC: Reservations you have to make now Tried, tested and highly rated restaurants to try in Dubai's financial district
Time Out
an hour ago
- Time Out
A historic piazza just reopened in Rome after a five-year restoration
Rome 's streets are some of Europe's most historic, but that doesn't mean they're frozen in time. In fact, there are ongoing efforts to preserve and renew some of the Italian capital's older sites – and the recently reopened Piazza Augusto Imperatore is proof of that. The square surrounds the Mausoleum of Augustus, the tomb of Rome's first-ever emperor. Originally built way back in 28 BC, this mausoleum was used as a concert hall throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but in the 1930s, Mussolini demolished the surrounding mediaeval buildings. Recommended: The best pizzerias in Europe have been crowned for 2025. A €35 million project has been underway to spruce up the square, and the latest stage of restoration is now complete. It was inaugurated in a ceremony on Friday June 6, marking the beginning of the third and final phase of work. The first phase of development was polished off in 2019, and the second phase – creating a circular walkway overlooking the mausoleum – will be finished later this year. Improving the lighting and accessibility to the museum comprises the final phase. In the new piazza, there are two graded slopes that connect the mausoleum's original level with street level, one towards Via Di Ripetta, one towards San Carlo al Corso. At the piazza's centre, there's a cafeteria and a large information point. According to Wanted in Rome, the city's mayor Roberto Gualtieri said at the ceremony: 'We are happy to have contributed to the creation of what will become one of the most important focal points in the city of Rome.' You'll find Piazza Augusto Imperatore just a 10-minute walk from Piazza del Popolo and around a 30-minute walk from the Vatican City. Here are .
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Civil Service workforce up 2,000 to almost 20-year high, figures suggest
A total of 550,000 people were employed in the Civil Service as of March 2025, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is up from 548,000 in December 2024 and a rise of 1% year-on-year from 544,000 in March 2024. Headcount fell to 416,000 in June 2016, the month of the EU referendum. Since that date, the total has risen steadily, driven chiefly by the impact of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. The Government announced in April this year that it planned to cut around 2,100 staff from the Cabinet Office, as part of a plan to shrink the Civil Service and reduce the cost of bureaucracy. Some 1,200 roles will disappear through redundancies, while 900 will be transferred to other departments. The latest Civil Service headcount of 550,000 is nearly a third higher (32%) than it was in 2016, or an increase of 134,000. Of the 550,000, almost 443,000 are full-time roles and the remainder are part-time positions. The last time the quarterly headcount was higher than the current figure was in June 2006, when it stood at 553,000. The total was on a downwards path during the second half of the 2000s and this trend continued into the 2010s until the EU referendum in 2016, after which the headcount began to climb. It grew by 40,000 in the years between 2016 and the start of the pandemic, as thousands of people were recruited to manage the complex and lengthy Brexit process. There was then a further jump once the pandemic was under way, as the Government hired staff to oversee huge projects such as the furlough scheme, testing for Covid-19 and the rollout of the vaccination programme. Headcount increased by 56,000 between March 2020, when the first lockdown began, and March 2022. By June 2024, just ahead of the general election on July 4, the total had reached at 546,000, since when the figure has increased by a further 4,000. Responding to the data, a Government spokesperson said: 'This increase is driven by recruitment to operational roles, including tax collectors and probation officers. 'As part of our Plan for Change, we are creating a more agile and productive state – reducing back-office costs to deliver savings of over £2 billion by 2030 and targeting spending on front line services. 'We have already announced a new cross-government fund for exit schemes to reduce staffing numbers over the next two years, as well as introducing measures to make it quicker and easier to remove poor performers from post.' Chancellor Rachel Reeves said in March that Civil Service running costs would be reduced by 15% by the end of the decade. As well as abolishing quangos such as NHS England, ministers have committed to increasing the proportion of civil servants working in digital and data roles, creating a workforce 'fit for the future'. Two Government departments together account for more than a third of the full Civil Service headcount: the Department for Work & Pensions (17.6% of the total) and the Ministry of Justice (17.5%). The next largest are HM Revenue & Customs (12.9%), the Ministry of Defence (10.5%) and the Home Office (9.2%). These five departments together account for just over two-thirds of the total headcount.
