RYLA Course Report for 2017

We must send our grateful thanks to clubs in the District for recruiting excellent candidates who got the very most out of their RYLA experience.

The six day week one did work very well and it is our intention to continue this for next year. The application forms for RYLA 2018 will be distributed in the October District Mailing to be returned by 30th November 2017 and we will then assess the demand for places. If demand calls for it, we may do two, six day weeks. We will also be bringing the registration deadline forward to 31st March rather than 30th April in the hope that we will avoid the busiest times in schools.

Following the integration of the former District 1270 clubs into District 1040 last year, we expanded the capacity of RYLA to 72 places on a trial basis and 69, 16 and 17 year olds completed the course. This was after we replaced 3 candidates immediately prior to the second week of the course. We seem to have been particularly affected this year by candidates giving back word due to illness and we had a couple of candidates who simply decided not to attend the course at the last minute. There have also been issues around some clubs sending in their registration forms very late which meant that we were not able to confirm course allocations in good time and then some candidates were not available when we were able to allocate places. I know clubs have their own challenges when liaising with candidates / schools etc. but it would be very much appreciated if the deadlines could be adhered to next year. I have not yet prepared the budget for next year but it is likely the cost of a place on the course will remain at
£475.

In response to feedback from clubs, we have set up a Facebook page called “Rotary Youth Leadership Awards – RYLA in District 1040” which we intend to populate with information aimed at helping a potential RYLArian make their decision about applying for a place on the course. We are also going to compose a letter that you may wish to ask your school contacts to circulate to parents. If clubs have any more suggestions on how the RYLA committee can help with your recruitment then please do let us know.

RYLA takes place at Hebden Hey Scout Hostel (www.hebdenhey.org.uk) which is at the end of a long, single track lane above Hebden Bridge and when the young people are dropped off by their Rotarians, they are extremely apprehensive about their new surroundings, particularly as there is no mobile phone reception. By Friday morning, it is always a difficult job to persuade them to say goodbye to their new friends and go home! Many of them comment that they have enjoyed their time without their mobile phones as they have enjoyed chatting and getting to know their course colleagues “in the real world”.

We always ask the candidates for their feedback at the end of the week and this year we reviewed the questions we were asking to try and extract information from them that we can use in the future. I have put a number of their comments together on a separate document to be circulated with this report and they make me feel extremely proud that Rotary provides such a wonderful opportunity for them.

RYLA is an experiential learning course and awardees undertake a series of indoor and outdoor problem solving tasks in teams of 8 with a Rotarian mentor. All the activities are geared towards leadership, for example communication, planning, allocating roles and responsibilities based on relevant experience, inclusion of all team members, delegation, problem solving, time management, etc. The activities are led by our professional instructors “Awesome Adventure” who lead what is the most powerful aspect of RYLA, the in-depth de-brief sessions. The “Kolb Learning Cycle” underpins all the activities and by reviewing each task and taking the learning points into the next task, the awardees grow in confidence and their ability to lead a team. We were pleased and grateful that District Governor Robert Morphet was able to spend some time with us seeing the activities and listening to the de-brief sessions and he gave a most heartfelt speech at the presentation on the final night of each course. His support for RYLA is very much appreciated by everyone involved.

We like to ensure that Rotary has an important place in and amongst all the leadership activities and we held a Service above Self evening where the awardees filled Shoeboxes with items that they had volunteered to bring. We filled more than 55 shoeboxes across the two weeks and further boxes will be filled with the proceeds of the tuck shop and donations made by Rotarians for refreshments. As part of this evening, Rotarians working on the course gave brief presentations about what Service above Self means to them and we then divided the awardees into groups and asked them to discuss what it means to them and then present back to everyone at the end. We were in awe at the volunteering and fundraising that these young people get involved in. We had a particularly sobering and emotional moment when one of the awardees told us about his fundraising efforts in memory of his older brother who was killed by an IED in Afghanistan.

We challenge the awardees to raise a minimum of £475 themselves (the cost of a place on the course) for a cause close to their own hearts whether that is through raising money or giving their time. I can safely say that this year’s RYLArians are already more than meeting this challenge. We also suggested that they could offer their help to their sponsoring Rotary Club for any events and keep that connection with Rotary.

We have a programme of inspirational speakers every morning at 8.15am, with some selected from the RYLA staff. This year we heard from PDG Ken Robertshaw who kayaked the length of the Mississippi river, Elizabeth Wright, an Australian paralympian and medallist from the Atlanta and Sydney games, our Course Assistant for this year Jamie Young, a RYLArian from 2014 who spoke about how he uses the skills gained at RYLA, RYLA mentor Rebecca Mendoza, originally from Salinas in California who spoke about her experiences of Rotary Youth Exchange and her Ambassadorial Scholarship to York, new RYLA mentor David Price who spoke about his adventures and how we should “get comfortable being uncomfortable” and former RYLA mentor Sue Leach who told us about her experience of volunteering with the Karen Hilltribes in
Thailand.

 We held our second annual open day and we were delighted to welcome Rotarians from the Rotary Clubs of Aireborough, Wetherby Wharfedale, Horbury and Ossett Phoenix, Bradford West, Halifax, Sowerby Bridge, Hull Paragon, Bingley Airedale, Shipley and Birstall Luddites.  It was a great success and we will be holding another open day at RYLA 2018.

Thanks must go once again to the Rotary Clubs in the District for taking the time to select and sponsor young people. We appreciate the hard work that goes into selecting the right candidates. Thank you also for your patience when delivering them to and collecting them from Hebden Hey. I am sure you will be looking forward to hearing your RYLArian/s present to your club about their RYLA experience.

I would also like to thank all the Rotarians who worked as mentors on the course. Mentors hold a very special role in RYLA. Each mentor is allocated a team of eight and supports and encourages them throughout the week as they learn and develop. The instructors may only see a particular group once or twice but the mentors are always there and provide consistency throughout the week as the awardees undertake tasks and learn from the feedback they are given. Thank you to Simon Rebecchi (Leeds White Rose), Chris Redfearn (Brighouse), David Price (Leeds White Rose), Cindy Stephenson (Weighton Wolds), Rick Raistrick (Calverley), Nev Oughtibridge (Ossett), Rebecca Mendoza (York), Linda Parker (Halifax) and Alex Healey (RYLArian 2010). If any Rotarians would be interested in finding out more about mentoring, please let me know.

My very grateful thanks also go to RYLA Administration Manager Gill Poole (Mirfield) and RYLA Logistics Manager Richard Greenwood (Sowerby Bridge) for their hard work in preparing for RYLA and keeping everything running smoothly during the course. Also to our wonderful chef Aaron McLaughlin from the Halifax Opportunities Trust who kept us all well fed and Christine Hodgson from the Inner Wheel Club of Halifax (my hugely supportive Mum) who sets her alarm for 5.30am every day and drives to Hebden Hey to cook breakfast for everyone. This is invaluable because it means I can hold a meeting with my full team every morning at 7am to address any issues and share information.  I must also thank Courtney Locke and Jamie Young who worked as our brilliant Course Assistants.

Last but not least, I would like to thank Awesome Adventure, our professional instructors. Their dedication to the learning experience of the young people is wonderful to see and we are very lucky to have them as part of the team.

The future is most definitely safe in the hands of our brilliant RYLArians and thank you to everyone involved in RYLA for your support. We have a Rotary programme that we should all be very proud of – here’s to RYLA 2018!


Lucy Hodgson
RYLA Chairman and Course Director Rotary Club of Halifax lucy@eastwoodandpartners.co.uk