RYLA Course Report for 2019

Despite some problems with last minute changes to candidates, we started both both programmes at the maximum capacity of 40. Unfortunately two young people left the course on the first day but this decision had our support and as they left so early, it did not impact on the rest of the course.

This was the second year that we delivered two, six-day programmes and we are pleased with how the new format works in practice. We will continue to offer this programme next year and the application form for clubs to apply for places will be sent out in October’s District Mailing as usual with a deadline of 30th November. The Registration forms will then be issued in early December with a deadline of 31st March. The courses next year will be Saturday 25th July to Friday 31st July and Saturday 1st August to Friday 7th August 2020.

The Registration form includes an area for signatures by both the candidate and their parents / guardians. As mentioned in the first paragraph we did experience a very high number of young people deciding to “drop out” of the course within a couple of weeks of RYLA starting and we have been considering ways of how to prevent this next year. We discovered as part of the Service above Self evening that not all the young people are aware of the specific financial investment that Rotary has made in them - it was approximately 50/50. We have therefore decided to add some wording to the Registration Form next year along the lines of “I understand that Rotary is investing £475 in my development as a leader and I am committing to attend the course.” If anyone has any alternative suggestions, they would be gratefully received.

Course One – Saturday 27th July to Friday 2nd August

We have also been asked to provide more materials to help clubs when they visit schools, along the lines of a You Tube video. We are sure that our previous RYLArians would provide sound bites for any video but we do not have the technical ability in the RYLA team to produce something of this nature. If anyone would be willing to help us put something together, we would be most grateful.

As many of you 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. There are many benefits but one of

the most significant is that there is no mobile phone reception. Mobile phones are however becoming more of a problem every year with many of the young people ignoring our instructions not to bring them and trying to wander down the lane to find a signal which we quickly stopped! We also had a number of them trying to decipher the WiFi code which of course we would never let them have. After a stern talking to, the situation settled down but we are considering asking for them to be handed in at the beginning of every day and we will then lock them away whilst the activities are taking place.

Course Two – Saturday 3rd August to Friday 9th August

We always ask the RYLArians for their feedback at the end of their course and we have also received a number of messages since explaining the impact that the course had on them. It really is life- changing to some of them – one of the young men said whilst trying to hold back tears that he could not believe how much he had learned about himself in just seven days and that it had been the best week of his life. Many of them commented on it being hard work and challenging but very worthwhile and enjoyable and it had taught them so much about working in teams and leading teams.

RYLA is an experiential learning course and the young people undertake a series of indoor and outdoor problem solving tasks in teams of eight with a Rotarian mentor. All the activities are geared towards leadership including 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 RYLArians grow in confidence and their ability to lead a team.

During the afternoon of the first day, there is a task to complete called “Double Jeopardy”. It is a complicated, technically challenging task to build a structure to transfer every team member from one side of a river to the other. As we find every course, chaos usually ensues with no planning, nobody taking the lead, no sharing of skills and information. The confident ones try and take the lead but they never quite understand what they are trying to achieve and the less confident ones huddle together for support. There is method in our madness though and despite the teams never achieving the task on the first day, we observe the behaviours and characters of the young people and use this information to divide them into their teams of eight. This ensures that the teams are as well balanced as possible – we also had almost an equal split of girls and boys once again this year.

On the Monday evening of the courses, we always explain to the RYLArians that they will be doing Double Jeopardy again to demonstrate how much they have learned. They are told that the only time we have for this is before breakfast on the Thursday morning which at first is well received however it quickly dawns on them that they will need at least two hours and so we will all need to wake up at 4.30am – I usually make a sharp exit from the hall at this point and leave them to their planning! Both courses tackled this second attempt very well and it is always an emotional moment to see them start to cross from one side to the other as it shows how much they have learned in those few days.

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 RYLArians filled Shoeboxes with items that they had volunteered to bring. We filled more than 60 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 are involved in and for some of them it was the first time they had addressed a group of so many people which felt like an achievement for them in itself.

We challenge them 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. We 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 also heard from a number of the Rotarians and RYLArians who volunteer at RYLA during our morning speaker slot. All had an inspirational message to deliver about using their skills, setting goals and not giving up.

We held our fourth annual open day and we were delighted to welcome Rotarians from the Rotary Clubs of Halifax Calder, York Ainsty, Aireborough, Goole, York, Wetherby Wharfedale, Bradford Bronte, Harrogate Brigantes and Hull Kingston. It was another great success and we enjoy having the opportunity to show RYLA in action. We were also pleased that District Governor Manoj Joshi was able to visit us for the last evening of each course to present the certificates and polo shirts. He delivered inspirational messages to both courses and his support for RYLA is very much appreciated. He stressed that the RYLArians are now very much part of the Rotary family and the RYLArians should continue to seek out Rotary in their lives. We were also very pleased to see District Governor Elect Andrew Bateman and Past District Governor Robert Morphet both taking their turns at the barbecue and thank you to them for their support too.

Our grateful 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. A fire on the main road between Halifax and Hebden Bridge at the end of week one and the poor weather on the final morning did not help matters this year unfortunately but you were all very accommodating, thank you. We are 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 and RYLArians who worked as mentors on the course.

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 Rebecca Mendoza (York), Chris Redfearn (Brighouse), David Price (Leeds White Rose), Cindy Stephenson (Weighton Wolds), Linda Parker (Halifax), Alex Healey (RYLArian 2010), Grace Clark (RYLArian 2012), Rosemary Wilkinson (Elland), Richard Galliford (Stainborough) and Derek Housley (Stainborough).

Awesome Adventure Instructors, Rotarian/RYLArians – Course Two

My very grateful thanks also go to Gill Poole (Mirfield) and 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 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 we can hold a team meeting every morning at 7am to address any issues and share information.  We must also thank Jamie Young (RYLArian 2014), Ione Collins (RYLArian 2017) and Alfie Locke (RYLArian 2018) for all their help too.

Last but not least we 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 – they have now been involved with RYLA in our District for 25 years and we made a presentation to Paul and Jacqui Findlay from Awesome Adventure to thank them very much indeed.

Thank you to you all for your support of RYLA – we have a programme in District 1040 that we can all be proud of.

Here’s to RYLA 2020!

Yours in Rotary friendship

Lucy Hodgson

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