Society continues to give youngsters a bad rub, and on some occasions, justifiably so.

But last month, Rotary Great Britain & Ireland played host in a single weekend to an inspiring plethora of events honouring young achievers.

The June edition of Rotary Digital will have reports on the finals of the Young Chef and Youth Speaks finals which took place at Alcester, Warwickshire, alongside the Rotary Young Citizen of the Year awards. In Manchester, the finals of the Rotary Young Musician of the Year also took place that weekend.

The quality on show was of an amazing standard, and this was also reflected in the heats of these competitions which took place in Districts throughout the year.

Those finals coincide with the story published in both Rotary Magazine and Rotary Digital in April of former Rotary Young Chef winner, Tom Hamblet, who has gone on to win the BBC’s MasterChef: The Professionals title.

With RotaKids and Interact clubs prominent in Rotary Great Britain & Ireland, this shows the strengths of Rotary in providing firm foundations and a focus for youngsters from all backgrounds in the communities we serve. They expand Rotary’s reach.

These competitions have been running for many years and lie at the heart of Rotary’s community involvement.

I am aware some Rotary clubs struggle to host these competitions, often battling to find co-operation with schools whose teachers are struggling to juggle their workloads.

This January, my own Rotary club was unable to stage a heat of Rotary Young Chef because a long-standing teacher who had liaised with other schools to organise the competition was off work sick. But these competitions are surely worth persisting with.

In Ireland, the Rotary Youth Leadership Competition has become a long-standing fixture on the isle where Rotary is committed to offering young people opportunities to unlock their potential, develop their skills and broaden their horizons.

Run in conjunction with Euroscola, the Rotary Ireland Youth Leadership Development Competition has been running for more than 25 years rewarding young people with clear leadership potential.

It is an opportunity for young people to enhance their personal development and improve their communication and teambuilding skills. Students learn life skills, as well as gaining confidence in public speaking and debate. Every year great friendships are formed which last for years.

The prize is a five-day all-expenses paid trip, which includes a visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg in February each year. The trip in previous years started with a visit to Stormont in Belfast, the European Parliament Office in Dublin, Dáil Eireann and then to Strasbourg.

In advance of the trip, students are informed of current European issues which they will debate, amend, vote and adopt in the EU Parliament.

It is a fantastic initiative, and such is its impact that the new Taoiseach in Ireland is Fine Gael politician, Simon Harris, who was a winner of the Rotary Ireland Youth Leadership Development Competition 20 years ago.

We feature Simon’s Rotary story in this month’s issue of Rotary Digital, as well as an article about the latest batch of winners who enjoyed trips to Dublin, Belfast and Strasbourg as part of their prizes. Who knows, there could be another Taoiseach among their number!

I hope you enjoy this edition of Rotary Digital, and if you have any comments about any of the articles which you would like to share in the letters page, please email me at: editor@rotarygbi.org

Dave King,

Editor, Rotary Digital