Students from all over the North West traveled to Frodsham on Saturday March 4th to take part in the Rotary Youth Speaks District Final at King's Church. The final was hosted by the Rotary Club of Frodsham and Helsby. All involved were very grateful to King’s Church for providing the venue for the competition at only 4 days’ notice, after Storm Doris blew the roof off the original venue.

The teams of three students competed in showing their prowess at public speaking. The 10 teams involved were

All Hallows Catholic College, Bury Grammar School Boys, Culcheth High School, St Peter’s Catholic High School, Westhoughton High School at Intermediate Level (11-13) and Falinge Park High School, Ladybridge High School, Oldham Hulme Grammar School, Sandbach School, St Peter’s Catholic High School (Scholars) at Senior Level (14-17)

To reach the final the teams had to win heats which took place in Biddulph, Leigh, Lymm, Manchester and Wigan.

“The teams have had to beat stiff competition in the previous heats to get to the final” said Youth Speaks Coordinator Warren Heyes. “The standard was very high. The teams and their teachers fully deserved the praise they received from the judges and members of the audience. My congratulations to the winning teams from Ladybridge High School and St Peter’s Catholic High School.”



The following quotations are from previous years.



Quotations from teachers



“As a teacher, it was wonderful to hear such passionate speeches about such a wide range of issues. Knowing that many adults list public speaking as one of their biggest fears, it was also very inspiring to see all the young people involved speaking so commandingly and confidently.” “Friendships are formed between schools and districts and all schools value the experience.”



Quotations from students



“An incredible opportunity for our generation to voice our opinions”.

“It was a very close competition as all the teams were exceptional.”

“It was a very well organised event and all the Rotary and Inner Wheel members were very helpful.”

“It was an enjoyable experience for all of us on our team.”

“I believe that the public speaking competition provided by rotary is an excellent opportunity for young people to express issues they feel strongly about and to build confidence.”

“a great opportunity to have young voices heard”.



The winners and runners up of the District Final went forward to the Regional Final on March 25th in Darwen. The National Final is on 7th May in Telford.



The National Youth Speaks Competition is a well-established and successful competition promoted by Rotary International in Britain and Ireland (RIBI). RIBI Rotary Youth Speaks 2017 is sponsored by David Hyner and his company Stretch Development. Youth Speaks is designed to support and encourage development of effective communication skills.



This competition offers young people experience in speaking on a public platform as a member of a team, an incentive to formulate ideas on topical subjects, the discipline in dealing with a topic in a limited time, the opportunity of learning and practising high standards of expression, presentation and appearance and impartial feedback and assessment by experienced adjudicators.