Luanne scoops Rotary young writer award
A sixth form student at The Brooksbank School, Elland, has won a national writing competition. Luanne Thornton was among thousands of youngsters who entered the Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland 2015 Young Writer Award.
Young writers were asked to explore a local community project and compose a short piece of prose called Light Up The Community. Entrants competed in local and district heats at three age levels before reaching the final.
Luanne, who represented Elland Rotary Club, was delighted to win in the senior category.
She said: “When my teacher, Mrs Buckingham, suggested that I entered the competition I jumped at the opportunity.
“After contemplating a few ideas, I decided that I would focus my piece around dementia. This was a topic of particular interest to me, as for the last year I have been volunteering with Kirklees Alzheimer’s Society, which has opened my eyes to the real effect that dementia has on our society.
“I was delighted to find out that I had won the competition, as writing is something which I wish to pursue in the future. I was also delighted that I had managed to portray the effect that dementia has on people and that people have been able to connect with it so well.”
A spokesperson for The Brooksbank School said: “Many members of the Brooksbank community will be familiar with Luanne’s passion for public speaking, an interest that has also seen her compete at national level. We are now extremely proud to here that Luanne has won this top award for her writing too.
“She is aiming to study English Language and Linguistics at Lancaster University later this year. We wish her the very best of luck in her exams and continued studies.”