Baldock Community Centre

For our last meeting in November Baldock Rotary was pleased to welcome Claudio Duran who is a very busy man and is Rotary District Chair of Youth Services in Beds, Bucks and Herts as well as being Assistant Governor with responsibilities for several clubs in the south of our District. Moreover, he is currently District Governor Nominee (DGN) so in a couple of years we hope to welcome him back as District Governor.

As the photos show, Claudio came well prepared to give us an inspiring talk on all that Rotary offers to young people. Baldock Rotary is pleased to be sponsors and mentors to the Interact Club, now in its 12^th year at Knights Templar School.

In the past we have also been able to sponsor candidates or teams for the Youth Speaks, Young Chef and Young Writer Competitions and have sponsored candidates for RYLA, the prestigious Rotary Young Leader Award. Claudio explained to us that RYLA has undergone some change in the last few years and, while formerly it was for young adults in the 18 – 30 age range, we have moved to a junior RYLA specifically for younger age group between 15 and 17 who gain their leadership training and experience on a residential weekend activity course.

A recent programme is “Rotary Developing Future Leaders” in conjunction with the Institute of Leadership & Management (visit www.rotarygbi.org/futureleaders)

There is a wide range of competitions and two types of technology tournaments and, although not every Rotary Club runs every competition, they are certainly the first port of call for anyone who is interested.
 

There are also a few opportunities for International Youth Exchange, organised through Rotary.

Our thanks to Claudio for his visit and we look forward to welcoming him back to Baldock again.