About Our Club
Leicester is in the centre of England. There are two nearby airports: Birmingham, which is about a hour’s drive away and the smaller, East Midlands Airport, about half that distance. It is one of the few English towns that can trace its development and growth from Iron Age settlement to modern industrial city. Its history goes back at least 2000 years. The first known name of the city was Roman, Ratae Corieltauvorum. Before being settled by Romans it was the capital of the Celtic Corieltauvi tribe which ruled over roughly the same territory as what is now known as the East Midlands. The Roman city was founded around AD 50 as a military settlement upon the Fosse Way Roman road. After the military departure, Ratae Corieltauvorum grew into an important trading centre and one of the largest towns in Roman Britain. The remains of the baths of Roman Leicester can be seen at the Jewry Wall and other Roman artefacts are displayed in museum adjacent to the site.
The Friendship Force of Leicestershire, founded in 1999, has about 30 members. It has a very active social life and an interesting exchange programme. When it comes to groups visiting Leicestershire, we usually spend a day in Leicester to get to know something of its history. We have many areas of interest in Leicestershire but are always happy to arrange visits to places of outstanding interest in our neighbouring counties.
Our Club is run by an elected committee but most of our members are involved in other areas such as fund raising, sorting out the monthly lunches (where we catch up with all the news) or helping to organise exchanges. Details of club activities appear in the club newsletter sent to all members. We are a friendly group of people and invite anyone to come along to an event and to introduce themselves.
Examples of Past Journeys
Penticton, Canada - statue outside Information Centre
We often combine a homestay with families with exploring other places nearby.
In October 2024 we went to Africa and stayed with the Cape of Good Hope Club in Cape Town . During the week we went to the top of Table Mountain by cable car, went wine tasting in the Stellenbosch vineyards, saw African penguins, learned about apartheid and its after effects and did much else besides.
Then we went to Victoria Falls and had a day sightseeing in Chobe National Park before going for another homestay in Nairobi where we visited an elephant orphanage, a giraffe sanctuary a tea plantation and plenty of other things. We finished our trip with a hotel stay in Diani Beach in Kenya.
In November 2017 members went on a 2/3 week trip to Brazil, spending a week with the Florianopolis Club which is on an island with beautiful beaches. followed by the amazing Iguassu Falls, the old town of Parati with its cobbled streets, Rio de Janeiro and, for some, the Amazon jungle.
In November 2019 we went to Japan and in addition to the two weeks with families we had a few days in Kyoto and, for those who wanted it, 5 days chilling out at a beach resort in Thailand on the way home.
