Hands across the water: Son of Hull’s mission to renew links with sister city Raleigh

SISTER CITY: Raleigh in North Carolina

By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor

Plans to revitalise historic links between Hull and its American sister city Raleigh are under way after an emissary with impeccable connections to both visited East Yorkshire.

David Robinson, who was born and raised in Hull, is the Director of the Governor’s Mansion in Raleigh, the home of North Carolina State Governor Roy Cooper.

Bearing gifts and messages of goodwill from Governor Cooper, Mr Robinson met Hull City Council leader Mike Ross and the Lord Mayor of Hull, Kalvin Neal, during his five-day visit, which both sides hailed a success.

It is hoped the visit will help forge new economic and cultural opportunities between the two cities, which formed a sister partnership in 1986.

Hull’s civic partnership with the US city of Raleigh was launched with great fanfare nearly 40 years ago.

Although Hull had well established links with other international cities – most famously the landmark twinning with Freetown in Sierra Leone in 1979 – it had no similar relations in the US, while Raleigh itself had no sister city at all.

All that changed in 1986, as David Robinson, director of the Executive Mansion in Raleigh – home of the State Governor of North Carolina – explained.

“Raleigh’s sister cities are part of the international sister cities organisation that is based in Washington DC and we have about six sister cities around the world,” he said. “Hull was the very first one in 1986.

“And in 1987 the Lord Mayor of Hull at the time, Violet Mitchell, flew across to Raleigh and signed the documentation at Raleigh’s very first international festival, so it was a huge deal. And it’s kind of been a big deal ever since.”

Although the historic links between the two cities are evident in places – there is a Raleigh room at Hull’s Guildhall – and there are active academic collaborations the two university cities, it had been feared that the wider relationship was in danger of falling dormant.

POSITIVE MEETING: Councillor Mike Ross, left, receives a commemorative plate from David Robinson

All that could be about to change, however, after Mr Robinson was tasked with reinvigorating the partnership on a visit from the US last month. He could not have been better qualified for the mission, having been born and raised in Hull before joining the Merchant Navy at the age of 17 and later settling in Raleigh.

He said: “The sister cities partnership is like a two-pronged thing. There’s the civic engagement but there’s also the trade engagement and both had fallen off, sadly, just as Covid hit. And someone at the Hull end retired.

“I‘m trying to put it back onto the front burner and turn the gas up. That’s been the main focus of my visit and of course it’s been good to see my siblings again. I’ve got a younger sister and a younger brother and they still live in east Hull. This was the first time we’ve seen each other in 25 years.”

As well as renewing transatlantic friendships between the cities it is hoped opportunities for commerce may also be created.

Post-Brexit, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was agreed between North Carolina and the UK, and last year a further MOU was signed between North Carolina and Manchester after a visit led by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.

BACKS RELATIONSHIP: North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper

Mr Robinson discussed this at a working breakfast hosted by the Lord Mayor of Hull, Kalvin Neal. He said: “This morning I said around the Lord Mayor’s table, why can’t Hull do that? Could Hull do that? Would the city be interested in doing that? I think the general consensus was yes.

“And you know, Forbes magazine, a very reputable and well recognised business magazine, they voted North Carolina for two consecutive years the best state out of all 50 states to do business with.”

Mr Robinson also had a productive meeting with Hull City Council leader Mike Ross. He said: “I met with the leader on Friday afternoon, he’s committed to making things happen.

“He thinks he’s already identified someone at Hull City Council to take on sister cities as an additional role. And I’ve already met with several leaders from the University of Hull who I met previously when they came to Raleigh.”

He added: “There’s been some serious collaboration between the University of Hull and UNC [University of North Carolina] in relation to wind energy, renewables, that kind of thing. Two people from the University of Hull were in North Carolina just two weeks ago.

GIFTS: Lord Mayor of Hull, Kalvin Neal, presents David Robinson with a shield and pen bearing Hull’s coat of arms

“So we have these collaborations between educational institutions and we have collaborations between sister cities and our department of commerce, the North Carolina department of commerce, and the office of the Governor.

“People have gone out of their way to be very hospitable and very receptive and at least they’ve been gracious enough to listen, consider and come up with some ideas, which is what this trip was all about.

“Because to be honest, if there was no real interest I would have suggested that we just terminate the agreement, we don’t want to waste people’s time. But Raleigh said no, no, no, we are not going to do that. You get over there and make it happen.”

Mr Robinson, a former pupil of Estcourt Street Primary, Craven Junior, and David Lister Secondary schools, said he was delighted to have been able to perform such a role for the city of his birth and the one he now calls home.

“I’m just so thrilled that I can do it as a Hull boy because I’m from here,” he said. “And there’s already talk about me coming back next year.”

BACK IN HULL: David Robinson, left, with sister Jayne Mulholland and brother Simon Robinson in their first get-together for 25 years

Councillor Ross said: “It was a pleasure to meet David as well as hear about the interest from Raleigh and North Carolina in reigniting the relationship with the city of Hull.

“I take the international nature of our city seriously. Whether it is the connection and support that has been in place with Sierra Leone, the friendship with Reykjavik or the more recent aid for those from Ukraine, Hull has always been a city that looks beyond its borders and further afield.

“The relationship with Raleigh dates back nearly 40 years and while it has been less visible in recent years, there are undoubtedly benefits in renewing it, from cultural understanding to economic opportunities. I hope to see progress on this in the months ahead.”

Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina and is named after the English Elizabethan explorer Sir Walter Raleigh. It is also known as the “City of Oaks” because of its many oak trees.