Raising Money With Rotary Youth Leadership Awards

Ayesha Slader, Funeral Director at Saltash and Torpoint, reflects on her experience of the Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA).

Rotary. One week. 28 young people, all strangers, thrust together in the middle of Dartmoor for the most challenging, yet rewarding 6 days of our lives.

RYLA, gave myself and 27 other individuals the opportunity to gain vital leadership skills through physical and mental challenges. The week included hikes across Dartmoor, surviving a night out in the wild with nothing but ground sheets and tarpaulins, as well as abseiling, rock climbing and evenings of motivational speakers.

For the RYLA team 2016, David Glover from ShelterBox blew us all away. He spoke about the fantastic work that they carry out across the globe, providing vital aid in the most unimaginable and inhospitable places in the world. Their work isn’t simply dropping off a box filled with lifesaving aid to its destination. The logistics involved from getting that essential box of aid to a family in need is often close to mission impossible. Flying the boxes from Cornwall to a safe point and then carrying them by foot across rough terrain, through rivers and over mountains. The heat and weather being unpredictable and the areas being crossed are anything but safe.

Inspiration running high throughout the group, we had found our community project!

Step 1, Build an office!!!
Perhaps not ‘build’ but as a group we all helped ShelterBox vacate their smaller premises in Helston, to their new HQ in Truro. Moving furniture, building desks, bolting chairs and of course eating the odd pasty or three. The team spirit was up and we were ready to raise some funds!!!

Step 2. The fundraise.
As friends and no longer strangers, we used the power of social media to plan events from Craft days, Change Collections, Talks, Marathons, Prosecco nights and Themed Disco’s all-in aid of raising money for this great charity as well as promoting the awareness of the fantastic work ShelterBox do.

Step 3. Inspiring RYLA 2017
On Friday 7th of July we returned to pay a visit to our following RYLA team, presenting a rather large £2,514.64 cheque to ShelterBox and hopefully inspiring the next cluster of young leaders.

And the conclusion?
For me, the week was an eye opener and anything but easy. The 12 months that followed were nothing short of incredible, 28 young people dotted across the southwest still coming together to pay something back for the fantastic week Rotary provided.
I cannot thank my employer, Walter C. Parson enough for providing me with the opportunity and encouragement of experiencing RYLA. Not only did I gain skills that I have implemented during the last year, I have grown greatly as an individual. Rotary Youth Leadership Awards gave me the confidence to grow as a leader and encouraged all of us to stand up and support something we believe in.

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