ROTARIANS held a weekend celebration of youth.

Brighton and Hove Rotary Club focused on youths who are making the most of their lives, developing their talents and helping others.

A club spokesman said: “Not all news about young people is bad news and our weekend certainly highlighted that.

“It was a very successful time.”

The event started on The Barge in Brighton Marina with a workshop for the finalists of its young writer competition with the theme being “A different perspective”.

Aspiring writers aged 11 to 14 met author Sarah Driver, who published The Huntress Trilogy, and she talked about how she became a writer.

This was followed by recognition for Robert Lindfield, a recent graduate of Brighton’s Varndean College who demonstrated personal qualities and community spirit worthy of a successful nomination as Rotary Young Citizen 2018.

Three Rotary scholars from around the world attended the event and talked about their international development studies at Sussex University.

They are Amy Baum from Arizona, Shuhei Fujiwara from Japan and Mina Chiang from Taiwan

Music was well represented in the weekend line up.

Youngsters Berniya Hamie (piano) and Milan Beckett (cello) played in the regional final of the Rotary Young Musician Competition.

Berniya Hamie, a student at Brighton College, won the regional final and will go on to represent the Southern Region at the national finals in Edinburgh later this month.

The musicians were the nominated candidates of Springboard, the Brighton and Hove Performing Arts Festival, and 2017 was the first year that the two organisations teamed up.

Brighton and Hove Rotary Club also sponsored music accompanists for some of the students who otherwise would struggle with the cost.

Drama was in the limelight with short plays written by young people who attend a workshop sponsored by the Rotary Club.

The plays took place in different spots around the Theatre Royal, performed by professional actors.

Charities which support youth received donations from Rotary which are destined to help them improve the impact of their work.

Recipients included Little Green Pig, The Starr Trust and Springboard. There was a cheese and wine lunch to raise funds for Zanzibar Schools Project.

This was set up by two local Rotarians who regularly visit the island to make sure that funds are well spent on improving the educational chances of children in a remote fishing village.