On Tuesday 22 August four Kirkcudbright Academy students who had attended RYLA 2017 gave a presentation to Kirkcudbright Rotary to describe their experience.
RYLA the Rotary Youth Leadership Award takes place at an outdoor activity centre located on the south shore of Loch Tay, surrounded by mountains in a dramatic landscape. The centre is owned by the Abernethy Trust whose staff are appropriately qualified in the range of adventurous activities provided.
The aim of RYLA is to give young people first hand experience of leadership. The RYLA delegates are split into small groups of six or thereabouts, generally of youngsters who have not met before. Each day a different group member becomes the leader, hence all have the chance of both being the leader and of being a team member.
Under qualified supervision the groups are set a series a challenges, negotiating a high ropes course, raft building on the loch, gorge walking and mountain climbing. Throughout each group works with the encouragement and support of a Rotarian mentor. After the day’s activities there is plenty of time to socialise and recover.
The Kirkcudbright RYLA’rians Isabel Corrie, Sophie Hall, Jasmine Hall and Hazel Surtees entertained and impressed Rotary Club members with their recollections of the challenges they had met. It was clear that each girl had been taken a little beyond their normal comfort zone and had learnt a lot about themselves in the process. This is the true value of the RYLA experience, to increase the self esteem and self confidence of the young people taking part.
