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South Holland Rotary Club welcomes home some teenage globetrotters




When Tim Clayton (17) cycles from his home near Market Deeping there are no mountains to conquer - so he was in for a huge challenge when he went on a Rotary Youth Camp in central Slovakia.

Tim told the Rotary Club of South Holland: “All the roads we travelled went uphill and I can only recall one going the other way.”

He pedalled up to 700 kilometres with young people from countries including USA, Turkey, Hungary and Taiwan.

Tim Clayton with Rotary club president Jon Martin
Tim Clayton with Rotary club president Jon Martin

The cycling group had been featured in local newspapers and were treated royally wherever they travelled. It was difficult saying “goodbye” to his new friends at the end of the visit and he mentioned that his calf muscles had grown considerably.

He had signed up for the trip organised and supported by Rotary International.

Three other Rotary sponsored students gave short presentation with pictures.

Charlotte Southwell.
Charlotte Southwell.

Charlotte Southwell (16) had travelled to Taiwan to stay with Jin, a Taiwanese girl and her family for three weeks. Jin then stayed with Charlotte’s family for a further three weeks. Charlotte had flown alone to Taiwan and was met at the airport by Jin and her family. They had messaged and Face-Timed each other before the visit but now Charlotte would be immersed in Jin’s culture for three weeks.

They travelled around Taiwan together seeing sights and places including incredible food markets, the Golden Buddha temple, the Rainbow Village in Taichung, Taipei 101, tea tasting restaurants, Confucius Temple and Taroko National Park. They also attended meetings of the local Rotary Club where Charlotte gave a talk.

When they came back to the UK Jin was treated to visits including Burghley House, Buckingham Palace, punting in Cambridge, Lincoln Castle and a short break in Norfolk where they rented a beach hut in Wells.

Katy-May Hart
Katy-May Hart

Charlotte said: "I really recommend considering something like an exchange through Rotary if you have an interest in culture, travel, meeting new people and gaining more independence.”

For Katy-May Hart (15) it was the first time away from her family.

She travelled to a Rotary Youth Camp in Sicily staying in the homes of Rotarian family hosts in Castroventrano and Patanna, visiting sites of cultural and historic interest, including museums, an island cruise, Palermo and Mazaro Del Vallo.

Georgia Healey with club president Jon Martin (right) and Peter Start
Georgia Healey with club president Jon Martin (right) and Peter Start

Katy-May saw how salt is harvested by evaporation from the sea which was of particular interest to her as she intends to eventually go into catering. She fell in love with Sicily, made wonderful friends from many other countries also on the visit and hopes to meet up with some of them again very soon.

Georgia Healey (18) attended a week’s residential activity on RYLA - Rotary Youth Leadership Award programme - at Grafham Water Centre in Cambridgeshire, where students engage in practical problem solving in teams, initiative activities, mindfulness exercises, public speaking, orienteering at night and water sports, including sailing which she has always wanted to do. She gave an impressive account of her week saying that before she went, she thought she might get bored but it was the best experience of her life. She has become more confident, is now a capable public speaker and has made some amazing new friends who have already planned a reunion.

The young people were each presented with a certificate to mark their achievement and participation in the program.

Young people interested in exchange visits and new experiences can contact the Rotary Club of South Holland’s youth exchange member, Peter Start, on 01406 380599 to find out more.



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