The Newport and Zolotarevo Twinning Association was officially renamed in 2009 having previously been called the Newport-on- Tay Ecumenical Group.

The Ecumenical Group was formed in 1998 when members of the Church of Scotland, the Catholic Church and the Episcopal Church got together to celebrate the forthcoming Millennium. They decided to invite a group of children and adults from a country in Eastern Europe for a two-week holiday in Newport. The newly formed Group, lead by the late Kinnear Baxter, consulted with a Newport resident, the late Mr. Alec Reid who had made many trips to the former Soviet Union and with David Anderson (a lecturer at the University of Dundee, now retired). At the same time as this consultation was taking place, Ann Patskan, a teacher of English at the school in Zolotarevo was looking for a link with a school in the West with whom to correspond. She spoke to her cousin, Svitlana Slava, who worked at the University of Uzhgorod in Ukraine and had contact, via student visits, with David Anderson at Dundee University. And the rest, as they say, is history!

Father Jim Foley, Father David Campbell, Svitlana Slava, Kinnear Baxter, the Rev. Kenneth Pryde and Stewart Cram pictured at the inaugural service of the Ecumenical Group in March 1999.

The members of the churches and other villagers of Newport raised a tremendous amount of money in order to finance the trip. Dr. Jim McKellican visited Zolotarevo on two occasions in order to smooth the way for the proposed visit to Newport and in July 2000, 24 young people and their teachers (including Svitlana Slava and Ann Patskan) came to Newport, staying with families in the village and going out on daily trips around Fife to discover at first hand the culture and way of life in Scotland.

The visitors from Zolotarevo were given a Civic Reception held by Fife Council to which the Provost of Dundee was invited.

Strong ties now exist with the school in Zolotarevo, our contacts are still Ann Patskan and Svitlana Slava. We have sent many sets of English Language text books and other equipment for use by the pupils.

Zolotarevo School - Taken by Jim Mckellican in 1999.

Svitlana Slava (Svitlana Slava's niece) and Myroslava Barna were the winners of the Scholarship in 2009 and stayed with Marion Heredia while they went to English classes at Dundee College. Like Anton, they were superb students, whose English skills improved greatly. At the Community Council reception, Svitlana and Myroslava entertained the guests with a Ukrainian song and were presented with an album of photographs taken by the pupils of Newport School and a signed copy of Mairi Shield's history of Newport. Community Council Chairman Stuart Kiddie also presented them with a letter from the Community Council in Newport to the people of Zolotarevo.

Anton Slyvka receiving the Twinning Agreement from Community Council Chairman John Dott.

 

Marion Heredia (chairman of the Twinning Association) Myroslava Barna, Svitlana Slava, and Stuart McKiddie (chairman of the Community Council) at the Community Council Reception 2009.