SCHOOLCHILDREN across the area have been praised for their outstanding storytelling abilities after entering the Rotary Young Writer of the Year contest.

This year the subject was My Inspiration and pupils rose to the challenge – with local entries going on to contest the south east and national competitions.

There were more than 40 participants from The Royal School alone in the Rotary Club of Farnham competition – among them intermediate-level winner Helena Livesey-Hammond and Freya Gordon, whose entry inspired by a champion swimmer scooped the junior prize at district and club level and went on to win the south east competition.

Richard Drummond, president of the Rotary Club, awarded prizes to six winners from the Royal School in all, and afterwards said: “The storytelling capability of all the writers was very high and choosing winners from such talented young writers was not easy.”

Pupils at St Nicholas School in Church Crookham also tasted success in the Rotary Club of Fleet’s contest – and recently welcomed Rotarians John Burton and Dr Richard Franklin to present medals.

In the junior category, Grace Herman won a bronze and was highly commended at district level. Jessica Adams gained a gold and Mya Nandhra a bronze in the intermediate category.

Kate Preedy was awarded a bronze and chosen as the district winner in the senior category, while her entry was also submitted to the national final. Also in the senior category, Cara-Lou Hutchinson and Anna Arevalo were awarded gold and silver medals.