International Youth Hansa visit to Beverley

From the 4th to 7th April, Beverley had their first ever visit from the Youth Hansa of Germany and The Netherlands, it is probably the first visit from the Youth Hansa from any of the 200 Towns and Cities in the 16 Countries in Northern Europe which belong to the Hanseatic League.

Hamish Stewart commented, " This is a great honour for Beverley. In fact Beverley has had a meteoric rise in the Hanseatic League from joining in 2020 after we were able to prove that Beverley was a trading partner in Medieval times with the Hanseatic League. As sea traders the Hanseatic League lasted for 500 years and dominated trade in the North Sea and Baltic Sea and indeed as far north as Iceland and Russia. They faded away in the 18th Century but started up again in 1980 for the benefit of keeping the young people of Europe meeting together and getting to know each other".

Hamish went on to say "We have had 2 World wars which started in Europe and now the current war between Russia and Ukraine which shows the importance of the Modern Hanseatic League. Nowadays the Hanseatic League is immensely powerful and is consulted by the European parliament and other matters of great importance are Sustainability, Climate change and Fair Trade. There is still a business section in the Hanseatic League, which involves various trades and a massive Tourist business".

The modern Hanseatic League has 200 member Towns and Cities in it and that makes it the largest grouping of Towns and Cities in the world.

On the visit to Beverley 18 young people from age 16 to 26 years old arrived from Germany, The Netherlands, Beverley and indeed one Polish young woman, who is now living in Germany.

Hamish said, "Beverley joined the Hanseatic League in 2020, I am now the Hanseatic League Commissioner for the whole of The UK. There are 6 city and Town Members of the Hanseatic League in England and 2 in Scotland".

Everyone stayed in the Beverley Youth Hostel - The Old Friary which proved to be an excellent venue and much admired by their guests. During the stay they attended 2 Lectures, the first held in the Youth Hostel on Sustainability by the East Riding County Council majoring on coastal erosion and matters relating to it. This proved to be very interesting as all the Counties in Northern Europe are suffering from coastal erosion. The second on Fair Trade and held at the Methodist Church in Toll Gavel. Again another important topic in the Hanseatic League. The Youth Hansa are particularly interested in these subjects and climate change in general.

Trips away included one to York on the bus from Beverley, a first for the overseas guests, none of them had travelled on a double decker bus before, they commented on the views of the East Riding from the top of the bus which proved to be spectacular.

The group went to the Castle Museum in York, then a walk on the Walls of York and Lunch in the St Sampsons church, a lovely cafe in the heart of York. Then spending the afternoon looking around the Medieval streets of York and shopping!

The following day the visitors enjoyed a guided tour of Beverley. Paul Schofield is a well known and very knowledgeable Guide of Beverley. The visitors then spent time in Saturday Market buying souvenirs.

Beverley's visitors had such a good time that they all have asked if they can come back again next year and other Youth Hansa Members will be added to those that came this year.

Hamish commented, "Our young people have been immediately invited to The Netherlands to take part in a Hanseatic League event in May 2024. We are also taking 12 people to Gdansk in Poland in June for the Annual HanseTag which is a week long visit and includes 4 young people from Beverley. The HanseTag is held in a different Hansa Town every year".

The visit to Beverley this year is about to go up on the Hanseatic League Website and will be viewed by many thousands of people from all over the Hanseatic League. It is expected that Beverley will have many Tourist visitors coming over this year.