THE Rotary Club of Tavistock has chosen a young Tavistock man to take part in an award to improve leadership and communication skills.

Residential sales negotiator at Ward and Chowen's Tavistock office Ben Palmer, 25, is being sponsored by the club for the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) which takes place at Brimpts Farm on Dartmoor in July.

The week-long course involves an intense programme of outdoor activities and tasks along with projects and lectures from high achieving personalities all designed to improve confidence, team building and leadership skills.

At the end of the week candidates are invited to give a presentation with an overview of the activities.

As a member of the RAF section at Plymouth College Secondary School, Ben regularly took part in survival and team building exercises on Dartmoor and said he is particularly looking forward to the week at RYLA.

Rotarian in charge of the club's youth opportunities programmes, Russell Woolcock, said: 'The Tavistock club supports RYLA as one of the most worthwhile things that our district does annually.

'Ben's application form highlighted a number of his interests and past achievements that we think make him an ideal person to benefit from this course.'