Youth Speaks 2026

The Gosport Council Chamber is more used to policy debates and civic decisions, but on this occasion it echoed with something just as powerful: the voices of young people unafraid to challenge the world around them.

Gosport Rotary Club hosted the local heat of the Rotary Youth Speaks Competition 2026, part of a nationwide programme run by Rotary in Great Britain & Ireland, which gives students across the UK and Ireland a platform to debate the big issues of the day. From social media and crime to global responsibility, the topics tackled on the night would not have looked out of place in a parliamentary debate.

The setting itself added to the sense of occasion. The competition was held in the council chamber with the support of the Mayor of Gosport, Mrs Kirsten Bradley, reinforcing the idea that young people’s voices belong in public spaces, not just classrooms.

Teams of three students each had 15 minutes to present their argument before facing questions from a judging panel — a format designed to test not just speaking skills, but confidence, teamwork and the ability to think on their feet. It is a structure that mirrors real-world scrutiny, and one that many politicians and professionals would recognise.

Students from King’s Academy Bay House and Brookfield Community School rose to the challenge. Bay House entered four teams, while Brookfield fielded three in a parallel competition, ensuring a packed evening of debate and discussion.

Among the standout performances were Bay House’s senior team, Florence, Elise and Thomas, who argued that individuals should be held responsible for global problems, while their intermediate counterparts, Megan, Bea and Lily, explored whether social media is creating an apathetic society. Brookfield’s senior team, Eliza, Noah and Poppy, took on the provocative motion “Once a criminal, always a criminal”, while Elliot, Joshua and Franklin debated the return of capital punishment as a response to rising crime.

Judging was led by a distinguished panel including Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, alongside Georgina Mulhall and June Drake, who praised the clarity of argument and the confidence shown by all teams. Their presence gave the evening the feel of a professional forum rather than a school competition.

At the end of the night, the Mayor presented certificates to every participant, with book tokens awarded to the winning teams — but the real prize was the experience itself. The successful teams now move on to the Group Round in February, where they will compete against schools from the Fareham and Portsmouth area, with the chance to progress to the Wessex District Final in March and, ultimately, the national final.

Across Great Britain and Ireland, Rotary’s Youth Speaks competition continues to prove that the next generation is more than ready to take part in serious debate. In Gosport, at least, the future of public speaking looked confident, thoughtful and in very safe hands.

At the Youth Speaks event, Gosport Rotary Club President, Ken Pheysey, presented a cheque for £1,000 to the Mayor, Cllr Bradley, which will go towards the Mayor’s charity.