TWO local teenagers said on Thursday that their experiences through RYLA was making a big difference to their lives.

Lochgelly High School's Chloe Cooper and Beath's Josh Sneddon had been at the Abernethy based Rotary Youth Leadership Award camp in July through sponsorship from Cowdenbeath Rotary Club and their two schools and they told rotarians at Thursday's meeting in Wee Jimmies that when they went to Abernethy they had really not looked forward to what was awaiting them.

And a times that was underlined by a few of the things that happened.

Said Chloe: "I made friends fairly quickly and that relaxed me but some of the activities included things that made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

"I have a bit of a fear of deep water so canoeing was a real issue for me at the start but I managed to overcome my concerns and later on, during my day as team leader, on I was able to spearhead us to build a raft and it floated which was a real bonus for us."

Chloe went on: "The week really boosted my self confidence and I felt comfortable standing as a House Captain at the beginning of the school term, something I might have really felt uncomfortable about had I not had the RYA experience."

Josh took up his story: "When I left to go to RYLA I really knew only a few bits and pieces about what would happen during the week.

"I was soon as I was faced with having to jump into a deep pool of water it really pushed me to my limits because it is something I am just not confident about but with the support of my team mates I achieved it.

"I enjoyed learning to be totally eased out of my comfort zone and it has really something that is going to help me in the future as I learned to communicate better with my colleagues as the week progressed."

Club president Erica Lock presented Chloe and Josh with their RYLA certificates and praised them for the way delivered their talks and she was sure they both would use what they had learned well.