About us
Friends of Cognac is a group that is dedicated to promoting close links, ongoing friendship and visits to and from Perth’s twin town in France, the town of Cognac in the Charente region.
The core of our activity is a programme of group visits to Cognac, and from Cognac to Perthshire in which we are hosted in the homes of French friends for a week, and they in turn are hosted in our homes. These visits enable the mutual sharing of our lives, towns, local areas, activities and cultures, not to mention our food and drink!
Over the years strong friendships have been forged, we have had wonderful opportunities to discover this fascinating part of France and to share our own beautiful area with very appreciative visitors, and we’ve even improved our language skills (although speaking French is not a requirement to participate).
In addition to the twinning visits, we have a lively social programme of our own which continues throughout the year. Activities include film shows, cheese and wine, walks, lunches, petanque competitions and much much more.
History
When you enter many towns and cities in Great Britain today you are greeted with a sign indicating “Twinned with …..”. These signs represent a history of international co-operation and friendship, some at an official level, many as informal links between groups of people of all ages and backgrounds.
Twinning became popular in Great Britain after the Second World War, with the aim that building links and exchanges between individual towns and cities would bring reconciliation and prosperity after years of conflict.
The twinning agreement between Perth and Cognac was signed in Perth on 26th October 1991 (and in Cognac In October 1992) and an extract from the formal agreement runs:
“establishing a firm foundation for future understanding, respect and friendship between the people of Cognac and Perth for all time.”
In 2010, the Amis de Perth (our twin association in Cognac) participated in the Perth800 celebrations and in 2011 and 2012 reciprocal groups of members celebrated the 20th anniversary of the original Twinning Agreement.
