Uxbridge College’s team members were Ismaila Ngum, Sabyha Khan and Parnieshka Ramsamy. Ismaila and Sabyha

Students from Uxbridge College have triumphed again in a public speaking competition run by the charity Rotary.

In the first local round of the national Rotary Youth Speaks competition, the team triumphed in the Senior section with their presentation ‘Guns don't kill people, Rappers Do’.

Uxbridge College’s team members were Ismaila Ngum, Sabyha Khan and Parnieshka Ramsamy. Ismaila and Sabyha also took part in the competition for the College last year, in a team which reached the regional finals.

The competition heats were run by the combined Rotary Clubs of Hillingdon (Elthorne-Hillingdon, Pinner, Ruislip-Northwood & Uxbridge) at Swakeleys School in Hillingdon. Winners go through to the next round in the New Year.

Trophies were presented by the Deputy Mayor of Hillingdon Councillor Mary O'Connor.

Laraine Smith OBE, Principal of Uxbridge College, said: “This is great news for Uxbridge College and I am always pleased to see our students building on previous successes. I’m impressed with the way they’ve taken a controversial topic and treated it in a thought-provoking and engaging way, revealing the many ways we might view the subject by using a skillful line of inquiry, as well as a great sense of humour. If the competition is anything like the last year’s, they are up against tough competition - but I have every reason to believe they will make worthy opponents.”

David Thorpe, President of The Rotary Club of Elthorne-Hillingdon, said: “The team from Uxbridge College chose an intriguing subject and gave a polished performance against their opponents, who also did well. Ismaila was very fluent and held the audience’s attention and he was well supported by his team. We were delighted to see Uxbridge College back in the competition again, and look forward to supporting them along with St Helen’s, who were the winners in the intermediate section.”.