Frome’s Young Citizen of the Year

FROME College student, Owen White, has been named as Frome’s Young Citizen of the Year by the Rotary Club of Frome Selwood for his charity and community work.

Young Citizen of the Year is awarded every year in memory of Eric Cretney, a former member of Rotary, who heavily invested in working with young people in Frome.  His widow, Dot Cretney, is a member of the Frome Rotary Club, and regular attendee at the Frome Selwood club as well, and Dot presented the trophy to Owen during a celebratory dinner at The Fox in Tytherington.

Owen was awarded the Frome Young Citizen Award in recognition of the charitable and community work he is involved with. This includes raising money for charities such as the Royal British Legion and We Hear You, as well as his community work with the Town Criers Festival, and OAP lunches.

Year 12 student, Thomas Haines, also attended the evening to represent the Frome College Interact Club – which is a youth division of the Rotary Club.

He discussed two projects which the group is working on – a summer fair and a charity concert – utilising the talented youth within Frome. The group has been established for a few months now, and is raising money for two causes:  locally – We Hear You, and internationally – Shelter Box.

Students throughout Frome College are involved in the group, and all their projects are student-led, which allows them to develop leadership skills, whilst also contributing to the community.

Year 12 student, Amy Nicholls, was also chosen from a group of Frome students to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Award Course (RYLA). This involved spending a week on Dartmoor in February, partaking in leadership challenges with other students from the South West. The activities were focused on developing students’ confidence in leading and developing their understanding of how groups work.

Amy thanked the group for sending her, and talked about how the week had helped her develop key skills for the future; even encouraging her to apply for a student leadership position in year 13.

Frome College said, “The college would like to congratulate all our students for some truly remarkable achievements, and thank Frome Selwood Rotary for their ongoing and outstanding commitment to the young people of Frome.”