Two Skipton Rotary Clubs have celebrated local schoolchildren who took part in the 2023/24 Rotary Young Writers’ Competition.
Skipton Rotary and Rotary Club of Skipton Craven welcomed 8 students, together with their parents, to Skipton Golf Club for a ‘Young Writer’ evening.
Each pupil had been tasked to write a short piece of prose or a poem on the subject Rebuilding.
Skipton Rotary’s winners in the Intermediate (Secondary School) category were:
- 1st - Bella Brewer, South Craven School – a story about the destruction of a colony that had been destroyed by a bomb, and futuristic (and modern) take on the route to rebuild the colony.
- 2nd - Rosa Booth, Skipton Academy – a story about the devastating effects of an earthquake, the assuring words of an Aid Worker helping to keep everyone safe, and how ‘brick by brick, wall by wall, houses became homes again’
- 3rd - Sam Till, Skipton Academy – a story about the devastating effects of his home being destroyed in a disaster, and the loss of his family, and how he was eventually saved.
The Rotary Club of Skipton Craven’s winners in the Junior School category were:
- 1st Alexander Coupe, Boyle & Petyt Primary School - A World War 2 poem about destruction and survival and the rebuilding of a community. Alexander’s piece also won the Rotary District (Yorkshire & Northern Lincolnshire) final and reached the national final, albeit without success.
- 2nd Ellie Cramer, Cracoe and Rylstone Primary School – a poem about the power of water and the devastating effect it can have on peoples’ homes and lives, yet they can still rebuild their homes and relationships
- 3rd Mollie Miller, Threshfield Primary School – a poem about how wind, thunder, lighting and rain can cause such devastation, yet people come together to rebuild and mend.
- Joint 4th Oscar Lambert, Lothersdale Primary School - a poem about rebuilding after a bomb attack in 1939
- Joint 4th Phoebe Munday, Lothersdale Primary School – a story about the aftermath o an earthquake and discovering the perfect place to rebuild
- 5th Poppy Sugden, Cowling Primary School – a poem about losing confidence and rebuilding it through positivity
- 6th William Smith, Lothersdale School – an acrostic poem, using the word Rebuilding to describe the various uses of the word.
Rotarian Paul Wright, organiser of the event, said:
“This was our second celebratory event, the first being held in September last year, such was the success of that evening that we decided to run a second event this year.
"The feedback from the parents of our Young Writers who attended was very positive and very complimentary on the warmth of welcome and support they received throughout the evening.
"Our young people did us proud and they give us hope for the future through their powerful pieces of work.”
Next year’s competition will have the theme Beautiful Waters. Details will be circulated to local schools at the beginning of September.
The Winners’ Portfolio of all the pieces can be downloaded online here: https://www.rotary-ribi.org/upimages/clubfiles/1667/young-writers-portfolio_1.pdf

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