ROTARY ROUND-UP: Lots of Rotary schemes for young people

Thousands of young people, from primary school to university age, participate in Rotary schemes to learn skills that will help them become future leaders and members of their community.

The youth schemes allow the youngsters to discover more about themselves and the world by participating in community projects, leadership training, or cultural exchanges.

Young people also learn about the principles of ethics, service, and fellowship that Rotarians follow and enjoy.

West Worthing Rotary Club has always taken a keen interest in the young people of our community.

We believe that it is important to support and enable young people to develop and fulfil their potential and to instil the values of service from an early age by encouraging participation in these schemes.

There are a variety of schemes and projects that reward and acknowledge the extraordinary achievements of young people and foster development skills, social interaction and leadership skills that will stand them in good stead as they mature into adulthood.

An example of one scheme is the Rotary Young Chef competition held in recent months at the Chatsmore RC High School, where nine students prepared a two-course meal for two for not more than £10.

They were judged by Rotarian Giovanni Fontebasso from the Rotary Club of Cranleigh assisted by two members of the Craft Guild of Chefs, Omero Gallucci and Roy Perrett.

Each student followed an international theme and were congratulated for their presentation as well as their cooking.

Abigail Tilney and Mia Templeman were both put through to the next heat held in Chichester in January.

The prizes of MasterChef cookbooks were presented by the president of the Rotary Club of West Worthing, Sue Virgo.

West Worthing Rotary Club also sponsors a number of other youth activities.

Under the auspices of the club, Durrington High School has formed a Rotary Interact Club.

Interact is Rotary’s service club for young people aged 12 to 18, the purpose of which is to enable young people to work together, and is dedicated to community service at home and abroad.

This year the Durrington School Interact Club will be actively involved in raising money for various charities including Mary’s Meals and Chestnut Tree House.

A successful Christmas disco and tuck shop raised £782.50 and the next event is an indoor charity car boot sale at Durrington High School on Saturday, April 23, at midday for sellers and 1pm for buyers.

For further details and to book contact 01903 705605.

Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) allows young people the chance to show their skills over a week’s residential stay at the High Ashurst Activity Centre in Dorking.

Leadership qualities are rewarded with certificates and some prizes.

This year the club is sponsoring two students from the Public Services course at Northbrook Sixth Form College, Tom Bateman and Ali Terry.

RYLA is an intensive programme for young people in both physical and intellectual terms.

It is open to boys and girls within the age range of 15 to 17 at the time of the course.

Participants will be able to enjoy social activities and work as part of a team, as well as being prepared to learn the essential skills needed to succeed as a leader.

Participation on these courses enables students to return to their schools and communities more highly motivated to take on leadership roles.

The club is also active in the ‘Dictionary4Life’ project, which provides beautifully illustrated dictionaries that are particularly suitable for year six pupils.

The club identifies suitable primary schools in West Worthing and, with the headteachers’ agreement, they are distributed to all year six pupils for them to keep and use in later life.

The purpose is to encourage the intelligent and self-guided use of dictionaries and to help learners become more independent.

Children can use the dictionaries to explore spellings, meanings and derivations while the attractive illustrations bring the words to life.

There are a variety of other competitions available for young people.

Youth Speaks is a competition that offers teams of three young people, aged between 11 and 17 years, the opportunity to experience speaking on a public platform.

Musicians may be interested in the Young Musician’ while there are also competitions for ‘Young Writers’ and ‘Young Photographers’

For those young people who go the extra mile there is the ‘Young Citizen Award’ that showcases the citizenship and responsibilities demonstrated by young people under the age of 25.

Winners receive a cash prize of £500 at the national Rotary Conference where the awards are presented live on the BBC.

This year West Worthing Rotary Club has nominated George Dowell.

He suffered a serious traffic accident that has left him paralysed from the chest down but he has used his compensation to revive the fortunes of Worthing Football Club and support other disabled young people.

West Worthing Rotary Club would like to hear from teachers, parents and young people who are interested in participating in any of the above schemes.

Please contact the club secretary Mrs Jayne Knight on 01903 501961 or email: [email protected]

Details of Worthing’s three Rotary clubs are:

• Worthing Rotary Club meets Monday, 12.55pm, at the Chatsworth Hotel, in The Steyne, Worthing, 01903 262222.

• West Worthing Rotary Club meets Tuesday evening at Tudor Close, Ferring, 01903 501961.

• Worthing Steyne Rotary Club meets Monday evening at The Ardington Hotel, in Steyne Gardens, Worthing, 01903 234957.

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