EVERY year, along with many other Rotary Clubs nationally, the Rotary Club of Bude organises a public speaking competition for young people — ‘Youth Speaks’.

This competition aims to offer young people an experience in speaking on a public platform as a member of a team, together with the discipline in dealing with a topic in a limited time along with learning and practising high standards of expression and presentation.

This year’s final saw two teams from St Mark’s School, Morwenstow, battling it out in a very high standard competition with one team discussing whether being the youngest sibling was a problem and the other tackling the vexed question of whether or not we should keep pets.

The club congratulates them all but in a closely fought contest, the former team were judged the winners and will go on to represent Bude in the area final later this month in Barnstaple and, hopefully, the district final in Newquay. They are wished every success.