Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Why we should become vegans, should there be better scrutiny of charities, are we doing enough to help refugees and has the face of global politics changed forever . . .  These were among the topics debated in the annual Llanelli Rotary Club Youth Speaks competition held at Llanelli Town Hall. “The quality of the arguments presented was outstanding and the children taking part reflected great credit on their schools and families,” said the chairman of the judging panel Lt Colonel David Mathias. The competition saw Bryngwyn School win the senior category and St John Lloyd take the junior intermediate section. The winning teams now go forward to the Rotary Area final being staged at St John Lloyd School this Thursday, February 9. The competition attracted entries from St John Lloyd, Coedcae and Brynwgyn schools. Lt Col Mathias said: “The standard in the competition was exceptionally high – as it is every year - and the competitors made the judging task a very difficult one.” Llane...

Llanelli’s future, school security, the media’s glorification of war, giving students a political voice and the dangers of social media destroying privacy . . .  These were among the topics debated in the annual Llanelli Rotary Club Youth Speaks competition held at Llanelli Town Hall. “The quality of the arguments presented was outstanding and the children taking part reflected great credit on their schools and families,” said the chairman of the judging panel Lt Colonel David Mathias. The competition saw St John Lloyd win the senior category and Brynwgyn Comprehensive take the junior intermediate section. Both teams will now progress to the next round of the Rotary competition – zone area and district finals. The competition attracted entries from Ysgol y Strade, St John Lloyd, Coedcae and Brynwgyn schools. Lt Col Mathias said: “The standard in the competition was exceptionally high and the competitors made the judging task a very difficult one.” Llanelli Rotary Club pres...

Prize-winning public speakers from St John Lloyd School in Llanelli addressed members of Llanelli Rotary Club at their weekly meeting at the Stradey Park Hotel. The teams from St John Lloyd carried off the senior and intermediate team prizes in the annual Llanelli Rotary Club Youth Speaks public speaking competition staged at Llanelli Town Hall. They went on to win the area finals staged at Gower and Llwchwr Rotary Club. They now go forward to the Rotary District 1150 competition (for all of South Wales) on March 7 at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. The next step then would be a regional final to be held in Gloucester and a national RIBI Rotary final to be held in May. Last year, one of the St John Lloyd teams made it all the way to the national final held in Hull. The St John Lloyd intermediate team debated ‘We’re all going on a term-time holiday, what’s the big deal?’). The team members were – Chair Jack Rees, Speaker Joseph Toft, Vote of thanks proposer Francis Venzon. ...

Chemical warfare, feminism, fast food, school holidays, food wastage, overpaid footballers and the legacy of the 2012 Olympics . . . These were among the topics debated in the annual Llanelli Rotary Club Youth Speaks competition held at Llanelli Town Hall. “The quality of the arguments presented was outstanding and the children taking part reflected great credit on their schools and families,” said the chairman of the judging panel Lt Colonel David Mathias. The competition saw St John Lloyd scoop the team prizes in both the senior and junior intermediate section to progress to the next round of the Rotary competition – zone area and district finals. Last year, the St John Lloyd senior team made it all the way to the national Rotary finals in Hull. Lt Col Mathias said: “The standard in the competition was exceptionally high and the competitors made the judging task a very difficult one. Llanelli Rotary Club president Ken Abban explained that the Youth Speaks event offered an oppo...

The public speaking team from St John Lloyd School in Llanelli has won its way through to a prestigious national competition final. The team has been taking part in the Rotary Youth Speaks competition since January. The St John Lloyd trio of speakers won the Llanelli Rotary Club competition staged at Llanelli Town Hall and then went on to win the Intermediate team section at area, district and regional Rotary finals. They will now compete against teams from across Britain and Ireland in the final of the Rotary International Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI) Youth Speaks final at Hull University on Sunday (April 28). The team is made up of - Chair Blaze Roper, Speaker James McMillan and Proposer of Vote of Thanks Greg David. Their chosen topic has been - The Olympic Legacy. This generation is inspired, so what’s next? In the regional final staged at Sully, Cardiff, the St John Lloyd pupils added to the Intermediate team awards with individual prizes for Best Chair and Bes...

Political correctness, fears of mass corruption in the Establishment, the gap between rich and poor, sports role models, the Olympic legacy and multiculturalism. These were among the topics debated in the annual Llanelli Rotary Club Youth Speaks competition held at Llanelli Town Hall. “The quality of the arguments presented was outstanding and the children taking part reflected great credit on their schools and families,” said the chairman of the judging panel Lt Colonel David Mathias. “All the competitors were a great credit to their families and their schools.” The competition saw the teams from St John Lloyd and Bryngwyn take the senior and intermediate prizes to progress to the next round of the Rotary competition – a zone area final. The Youth Speaks competition is organised on a national basis and it is possible for the teams to win through to a UK final. Lt Col Mathias said: “The standard in the competition was exceptionally high and the competitors made the judging task a ...

A total of eight teams have entered this year's Llanelli Rotary Club Youth Speaks competition. The popular public speaking competition is one of the highlights of the school calendar in Llanelli. Llanelli Rotary Club member and schools coordinator Mark Evans said: "Rotary encourages speaking and presentation skills in young people and we are pleased that schools seem to agree with our philosophy. "The Rotary Youth Speaks competition, as a result, continues to go from strength to strength each year, producing some superb quality speakers in our young people aged from 11 to 18. "The Llanelli event is a local heat and it is possible for the winners to go all the way to a national UK final." The Youth Speaks competition is being held at 5.45pm on Tuesday, January 29, in the prestigious surroundings of the council chamber at Llanelli Town Hall. Parents and members of the public are welcome to attend. The entry list for senior and intermediate age gro...

The teams from Llanelli's St John Lloyd school emerged victorious from the Llanelli-Swansea area final of the Rotary Youth Speaks public speaking competition. The Llanelli school beat off strong competition from Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn Tawe in Swansea to win both the junior and senior events in the competition staged at Llanelli Town Hall. The St John Lloyd junior team debated 'Once a cheat, always a cheat', with Chairman Sophie Ayres and Vote of Thanks Proposer Charlotte Rees also winning individual awards. The best individual junior Speaker award went to Branwen Cleaver, of Bryn Tawe, who took as her subject, 'Fatima Whitbread, unsung sporting hero'. In the senior category, there was a clean sweep for St John Lloyd, with Yasmin Rai judged the best Chairman, Lloyd Haines winning the Speaker prize and Connor Charles picking up the Vote of Thanks Proposer prize. The team debated 'Sport is a unifier'. The teams from St John Lloyd won their way through t...

Off to perform MC duties at the area final of the Rotary Youth Speaks public speaking competition at Llanelli Town Hall.

Ghosts, sport cheats, online piracy and the difference between real and virtuals worlds. These were among the topics debated in the annual Llanelli Rotary Club Youth Speaks competition held at Llanelli Town Hall. “The quality of the arguments presented was outstanding and the children taking part reflected great credit on their schools and families,” said the chairman of the judging panel Lt Colonel David Mathias. The competition saw the teams from St John Lloyd take the junior and senior prizes to progress to the next round of the Rotary competition – a zone area final to be held at Llanelli Town Hall on February 14. Lt Col Mathias said: “The standard in the competition was exceptionally high and the competitors made the judging task a very difficult one.” Llanelli Rotary Club president Graham Williams explained that the Youth Speaks event offered an opportunity for Llanelli pupils to gain experience of speaking on a public platform. He said: “It allows young people to form ideas on s...

Llanelli’s Welsh Assembly member Helen Mary Jones was given a vision of the future at the annual Llanelli Rotary Club Youth Speaks competition. The AM praised the quality of debates at the event and predicted that some of the students could turn out to be the politicians of the future. “The standard in the competition was exceptionally high and the competitors made the judging task a very difficult one,” added the AM. Llanelli Rotary Club press and marketing officer Robert Lloyd explained that the Youth Speaks event offered an opportunity for Llanelli pupils to gain experience of speaking on a public platform. He added: “It allows young people to form ideas on significant subjects and learn high standards of expression, presentation and appearance. It also gives pupils the experience of accepting impartial assessments and constructive criticism.” In the junior competition, the Bryngwyn team debated ‘Text talk and internet spelling are the future of English’ (the Against lobby won the v...