Spirit of Rotary
For over 20 years the Rotary Clubs of Great Britain and Ireland have organised competitions in which teams consisting of young people make speeches about subjects of their choice. Under the heading Youth Speaks the competition is intended to enable youngsters to gain confidence in addressing audiences of all ages, to research their subject, develop their argument and act as a team.
The Billericay Rotary Club organises this competition locally and teams from Billericay School, Mayflower High School and St Peters from Burnham on Crouch are taking part. Each team has three members: a Chairman who has two minutes to introduce the team and give a brief history of the title of the talk, a Speaker who has six minutes to deliver the talk and a Proposer who has two minutes to thank the Speaker and the audience. The adjudicating panel then questions the team on the subject of their talk and answers are given by the Speaker. Points are awarded on the ability of the Chairman to manage the meeting and his introduction of the Speaker, the ability of the Speaker to present, develop and conclude an argument, his knowledge of the subject and the ability to deal with questions, the quality and courtesy of the vote of thanks. Winners of the local competition, which will take place on 24 January, go forward to the Area competitions and can, if they are successful in the District and Regional competitions, reach the National All England finals.
Several
Rotarians braved the elements to “Shake-a-Bucket” at Billericay Football
Ground in aid of Essex Air Ambulance, the supporters of both teams were
generous and £300 was raised for this worthy charity. Mrs Dorothy Cantrell,
Vice President of the Rotary Club received a certificate from Mrs Teresa
James of Essex Air Ambulance on behalf of the club in recognition of their
efforts. The picture shows, from left to right Mrs James, Mr Steve Kent,
Chairman of Billericay Town Football Club and Mrs Cantrell.
One of the events organised by the Billericay Rotary Club which raises funds for charities is the Arts Exhibition held each year. Artists are invited to show their work to the public who can buy any of the pictures which take their fancy and in doing so help the club to raise money.
This year the event will be held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday the 22/23/24 March from 10am to 5pm in the Reading Rooms, High Street, Billericay. Refreshments will be available. Artists who wish to display their work in the exhibition are invited to contact Tina Joyce at The Olive Branch, High Street for an application form or ring 01277 658787 and request that one be sent to them.