Enlarge image Ambassador Boomgaarden with the Guernsey Young Ambassadors (© German Embassy London) Eight local students who have been selected to represent Guernsey during a trip to Germany later this year met with the German Ambassador to the UK who visited the island last week.

The students, who were chosen to represent the Bailiwick as part of the Deutsche Bank-sponsored ‘Guernsey Young Ambassadors’ scheme this year, met  German Ambassador Georg Boomgaarden, who will be accompanied by Baron Joachim Marshall von Bieberstein, Head of Economic Affairs at the German Embassy, at a presentation at St James.

Launched earlier this year by the Guernsey Friends of Biberach, the scheme aims to build positive relations between Guernsey and the town of Biberach in south Germany, the location of an internment camp where a large number of Islanders were sent during the Occupation.

Hosted by the Guernsey Friends of Biberach’s Ken Wheeler, the presentation was attended by the two German officials and acted as a briefing session for the students ahead of a week-long trip to Biberach from 20th October. During the students’ visit, they will spend time at a local secondary school, travel to sites of interest, including the internment camp, and promote Guernsey as a holiday destination.

The students selected as Guernsey Young Ambassadors are George Russell (St Sampsons), Amelia Falla (Grammar School), William McVean (Grammar School), Rachel Datta (Ladies College), Peter Sandwith (Elizabeth College), George Collennette (La Mare de Carteret High), Amelia Brackley (La Mare de Carteret High) and Beth Gabriel (Les Beaucamps High). The trip will be particularly poignant for two of the Young Ambassadors, whose grandparents were sent to Biberach during the Occupation.

The Guernsey Young Ambassadors were selected earlier this year from students at schools across the Island, who were nominated by their teachers and interviewed by Ken Wheeler and Chris Betley, Honorary German Consul.