BOTH Beaminster and Colfox receivied winning titles at the first round of the annual Rotary Youth Speaks competition.

Three teams from the Sir John Colfox Academy, two from Beaminster School and one team of sixth formers from joint schools took part in the speaking challenge at Burton Bradstock Village Hall earlier this month.

Competitors were aged 11 to 13-years-old for the intermediate competition and 14 to 17-years-old for the senior competition.

The topics varied from ‘The good old days’, ‘Once upon a time’, ‘Fashion – miracle or disaster?’, ‘The ever-whirling wheel’, ‘University – is it the only way?’ and ‘Is old literature still relevant today?’

On summing up, the judges – Ross Westall, Keith Brown and David Powell – commented that this year’s performances continued to maintain the highest standards for both classes, which has been achieved in this long running event.

All the teams were well prepared and gave polished and professional speeches.

The scoring was so close that the judges awarded a tie for the winners of the intermediate class so that both teams go forward to the semi-finals on February 6.

The winners of the intermediate competition were both the the Colfox A team of Eddie Rose, Alfred Ross and Lily Rayner, and the Colfox B team of Anna Clark, Roland Ross and Sammy Bumbleton, who spoke respectively on ‘The good old days’ and ‘Once upon a time’.

The winners of the senior class were the Beaminster team, made up of Arlo Castle, Daisy Barker and Catherine Budden, with their subject being ‘University – is it the only way?’. Their speaker, Daisy Barker, was chosen as the best senior speaker of the evening.

Rosie Donaldson won the best speaker award in the intermediate class.

The certificates and prizes were awarded by Bridport Rotary Club president, Chrissie Bailey.