Youth in our Communities

The Breakthrough Project uses personal development and positive experiences to help secondary school students in danger of permanent exclusion to stay in education, overcome barriers to learning created by negative attitudes, and to reach their potential. Activities include work experience placements with employers, expedition to Dartmoor led by Jack Russell (based on Jack's "Bee Positive" programme), and follow up activities in schools and with mentors.

Competition

The Rotary GB&I Youth Speaks competition is an exciting opportunity for young people to develop public speaking skills. It helps develop confidence, resilience, and determination in public speaking and debate. There are two age groups: Intermediate and Senior. The competition is open to teams of three; consisting of a Chairperson, a Speaker, and a Proposer of the Vote of Thanks. The team are free to choose their topic within the Rotary GB&I guidelines. 

Great Britain and Ireland is home to some of the most talented young instrumentalists and vocalists in the world. Rotary GB&I celebrates this talent with a sequence of competitions that offer thousands of young people the chance to showcase their musical skills - classical and modern. The competition is open to 11 - 17 year olds.

Creative writing is a talent that, sadly, not all of us are blessed with. The Rotary GB&I Young Writer competition is designed to give young people who have, or have the ability to develop, this talent a chance to demonstrate their literary skills.

Rotary believes it is highly important to encourage and develop creativity in young people, and this includes creativity in the kitchen. Cooking amongst our young people is a growing interest and a valuable life skill. The Rotary GB&I Young Chef Competition produces some superb quality cooking by encouraging the budding Young Chefs to cook healthy meals, develop food presentation skills, and consider food hygiene. The competition is open to 11 - 17 year olds. The task this year is to produce a healthy three course meal in 2 hours for less than £15.

Rotarians can play a key role in the encouragement and development of the next generation of scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematician. Teams of four students with an interest in engineering and science compete in a full day event to devise and build a solution to a previously unseen task. Working against the clock the team need to have good communication skills, be well organised, and able to show the development of the solution in a design portfolio.

Youth Exchange

Rotary has been organising youth exchanges for over 60 years, providing incredible opportunities for young people to see the world, experience a different way of life, maybe learn another language, make international friends, and discover a lot about themselves whilst acting as an ambassador for their own country. Each year, worldwide, over 7,000 young people, aged between15 and 25, enjoy the experience of a lifetime through Rotary Youth Exchange.

There are four exchange options -
Short Term Exchange
 Spend 2 weeks or more staying with an exchange partner in their family home. Your exchange partner then stays in your home for a similar period
Long Term Exchange
 This lasts for an academic year. You will attend school or college while living with a host family.
Camps and Tours
 Camp in the wilderness or tour a cultural city with people of your own age from across the world.
New Generation Exchange
 Varying in length from 3 weeks to 3 months this programme gives school leavers and graduates the opportunity of unpaid vocational placements that match their career plans and aspirations.

Coordinator: Robert Porter