Madame Gifford and Naomi Day were presented with the cheque during the fete on Saturday and Madame Gifford is already hard at work deciding how best to spend the money. French is a subject that is enjoyed by all children at Fishbourne and all our little fish talk about how much they enjoy playing games, singing songs and learning with Madame Gifford.

In 2009, following an approach from the Mayor of Langrune to Fishbourne Parish Couincil, a small group of Fishbourne residents travelled to Langrune to reinstate the twinning activities between our two village. .Our hosts gave us a super reception and took us on tours of the village and surrounding areas.

In the 12 years that followed the Fishbourne Association grew in numbers and we made two further visits to Langrune.

We hosted our new French friends on three occasions taking them to the Roman Palace,  the Church and School Fete, Dell Quay and even playing croquet at the Fishbourne Centre.  We ventured further afield too including Chichester Cathedral, Arundel Castle, Bosham Hoe and Historic Portsmouth as well as many local hostelries. We also arranged tennis competitions and a group of Langrune children visited Fishbourne Primary playing games, enjoying a BBQ and spending a night with a school family.

All this was possible because we had a dedicated committee who were able to host many memorable village fund raising events from Darts competitions, Horseracing evenings, Quiz and Bowling nights, all sparking a further sense of local community.

Sadly on both sides of the Channel interest in this form of collaboration has dwindled and the membership has aged so that at the last AGM our twinning association decided the current members would resign and, in accordance with our constitution,  the surplus funds would be donated to Fishbourne Primary School to promote the objectives of the association amongst the pupils.