Rotary Club of Shrewsbury GUEST SPEAKER – Callum Tilson
Callum Tilson with Rotary Club of Shrewsbury President John Siviter At the Rotary Club of Shrewsbury luncheon on 6 Jan 2016 our speaker was Callum Tilson who told us about Rotary Youth Leadership Awards ( RYLA). To say that Callum had benefitted from and fully appreciated his Club sponsored participation in RYLA would be a massive understatement after listening to his enthusiastic and unscripted account of his many experiences at camp. And actually giving a talk at Rotary was something which, in itself, he admitted he would not have had the confidence to do beforehand. The initial inhibitions he’d felt at the start of camp quickly disappeared after he and the other previously unacquainted attendees were invited to roll over each other during their introductory session. And the shared misery of a 5.30 am wake-up, to the sound of an air horn and bucket of cold water, had been compounded by a cruel twist when, after accepting apparently kind offers from organisers to get tea, or tea with sugar, for their victims, Callum found they meant only a letter ‘T’ or letter ‘T’ sprinkled with a few grains of sugar! Sinking rafts and other misadventures followed. There were many other more enjoyable times and he mentioned the camp’s talent evening when he’d entertained everyone with bongo drum playing. And even after the week was all over he said a tangible and valuable positive had emerged in the form of successful University applications which cited the mention of his RYLA participation on his application submission as one of the reasons for success. After all these positives it was disappointing to learn that few students have come forward for the next event.
Summary report by Rtn Alan Wilding