WOLFGANG Fugh knows that giving Eastleigh's dormant twinning association a wake-up call will be a huge task.

Eastleigh has been twinned with Villeneuve St Georges, near Paris, for 40 years and Kornwestheim, near Stuttgart, for 25 years.

Although much has been achieved during that time, the organisation has ground to a halt.

German-born Mr Fugh, 73, from Hamilton Road, Bishopstoke, said: "Eastleigh Council has withdrawn all financial support from the association and its committee members are working people with families to look after and consequently have little time available.

"The association is lying almost like a dormant creature which has lost the will to live. It is in dire need of help."

Now, the man who has lived in the Eastleigh Borough for the past 40 years and speaks English, German and French, is set to launch a massive public awareness campaign and fund-raising drive after his offer to help promote Eastleigh's international links was welcomed by the twinning association.

Plans include a weekly pitch on Eastleigh market, raffles in the Swan Centre, a twinning website and the launch of a twinning news magazine which Wolfgang believes will be the first of its type in the country.

He said: "I shall also be knocking on every commercial door for help with sponsorship and I would like to involve more young people in the association."

Wolfgang admits that up until six months ago all he knew about Eastleigh's twinning partners was the names of the towns he saw on roadside signposts.

He said: "My wife Bernadette died of cancer four years ago and I had got to the stage where I had recovered sufficiently and was looking for something to get my teeth into. I wondered what twinning was all about and went into Eastleigh's Civic Offices to find out."

For 15 years Wolfgang and his wife, who was a professional ice skater, were part of the internationally renowned Holiday On Ice show.

Wolfgang worked as a stage manager and touring all parts of Europe, South America, the Middle East and the former Iron Curtain countries which convinced him of the value of forging international links.

He said: "Eastleigh could get so much more out of its international links. We need to encourage people to foster international friendship."