Young people made their voices heard recently at the Rotary Youth Speaks competition at St Stephen's Parish Church, St Albans.

The national competition offers young people the opportunity to speak in public and develop their presentation skills.

The St Albans heat, organised by the Rotary clubs of St Albans and Verulamium, saw teams take part from Beaumont School, St Albans Girls' School (STAGS) and Marlborough Science Academy.

Marlborough won the the intermediate section for under-14s with their topic 'cats are better than dogs', which was chaired by Tavor Lipschitz, proposed by Eddie Walsh and opposed by Samantha Mullinex.

Herts Advertiser: District Youth Services chair Andy Calvert, Zoe Brace, Henna Salhan, Sabrina Devji, and president of the Rotary Club of St Albans Verulamium, Andrew Thomson.District Youth Services chair Andy Calvert, Zoe Brace, Henna Salhan, Sabrina Devji, and president of the Rotary Club of St Albans Verulamium, Andrew Thomson. (Image: Rotary)

The senior category for under-18s was won by STAGS, with the topic 'dictatorships are an ineffective form of government'. The debate was chaired by Zoe Brace, proposed by Henna Salhan and opposed by Sabrina Devji.

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The competition was judged by Patricia Seabright, director of Archimedes Consulting, and Steve George, a retired teacher and representative from Impellus Ltd.

Each team was assessed on their individual delivery, subject matter and construction of their debate topic, as well as the chairperson's team management and summation skills.

The winning teams will proceed to the Rotary District 1260 (Herts, Beds and Bucks) round, which will take place in Hatfield in February.