Youth at Teignmouth Rotary

At Teignmouth Rotary, we believe in investing in the next generation. That’s why we actively support and promote a wide range of youth programmes, competitions, leadership experiences, and international opportunities.

As part of Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland (Rotary GB&I), we share a deep commitment to helping young people realise their potential — developing skills, confidence, and character along the way.

 What We Offer

Leadership & Citizenship

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA)
A life-changing experience for young people aged 14–30, RYLA offers a challenging residential course packed with outdoor adventure, teamwork, leadership development, and confidence building. Whether it's climbing a mountain or managing a group task, RYLA helps future leaders shine.

Clubs for Young People

Interact (Ages 12–18)
A school- or community-based service club run by young people, for young people — with guidance from a teacher and support from Teignmouth Rotary. Interact clubs give young people the opportunity to organise service projects, take part in fun events, and make a real difference.

Rotaract (Ages 18–30)
For university students or young professionals, Rotaract is about fun, friendship, and impact. Members plan community initiatives, build leadership skills, and connect with others locally and internationally. Rotaract clubs are supported by Rotary, but run independently by members.

The Committee manages a number of regular events during the year in support of youth activities

KidsOut Day - treating upto 150 special needs children along with their teachers, helpers and carers to a day of fun and entertainment

Youth Speaks 

 Music competition

Photography competition

Get Involved

Whether you’re a young person, a parent, a teacher, or a school leader, we’d love to hear from you.

 Contact us to learn more about how to join a programme, start a club, or take part in a competition.
We’re always happy to visit schools, run workshops, and support local youth events

Youth Programmes 

Rotary is committed to offering young people opportunities to unlock their potential, develop their skills and broaden their horizons.   

The Rotary Club of Teignmouth Youth Committee works within the Rotary guidelines to follow these values and aspirations. The club has a long history of Youth programmes. 

Junior Speaks 

This is a public speaking competition which the Rotary Club of Teignmouth runs at Primary School level locally. It is a modified version of a national Rotary competition, 

“Youth Speaks”. The club had run Youth Speaks in the past for many years, and now offers this Junior Speaks experience in local schools. Students are encouraged to speak about a topic of their own choice for a short period of time. With the co-operation of our local schools the event is not only fun for the students, but also for the audience. 

 In 2021 a ‘Zoom’ version was held, a first for us all.  It is a simple scheme with very few rules. To encourage participation by as many pupils as possible, initial competitions for different year groups are held in school time followed by the finals.                    

There are four criteria considered for each contestant, presentation, content, confidence and delivery. Winners receive a ‘Plaque’ and every entrant receives a Rotary certificate. 

Photographic Competition 

The Photographic Competition has run for several years, with Students submitting photographs to be judged by Professional Photographers.  2021 and 2022 were no exceptions, students from our local secondary school TCS entered some fabulous examples of their work. There were several categories and there were winners in each, with an overall winner. Students received an entry certificate, and winners a shield and token.                  

The photographs were outstanding in their imagination and technical quality whilst being thought provoking and topical. The Photographs were kindly exhibited by the Pavilions for the public to view.

Botanical Prints Competition  Within Our Environment

With much interest in our Environment, especially with the Younger generations, the Youth committee hosted a competition that aimed to raise awareness of plants and their botanical components, within our local environment and to celebrate the important part they play within our natural world, in the form of printmaking. Art students from our local Secondary school entered their works for display. Judging took place by a botanist and horticulturalist and an award presentation was held at Bitton House. 

The Orangery have played a key part in welcoming the students to take photographs of the plants in the glasshouse. 

The club has recently funded Youth Projects in the area. 

Picnic benches for a local school to aid outdoor classes during Covid, assistance with a ‘Forest School’ to encourage outdoor learning. Funding for early readers to engender an interest in books, are just some of the other ways the Rotary Club of Teignmouth has supported local schools over the last few years. Some Rotarians even wrote about their ‘Best Book’ as a resource for a local school during world book day. In 2020 individual Rotarians supported the funding of Gift Boxes through the Rotary Kids Out charity for children from our local area that find themselves in a refuge at Christmas. In 2021 the club also contributed to the fund.