A TALENTED trio of youngsters from Lytham St Annes High School have reached the national finals of a prestigious public speaking competition.

Since scooping the Regional Youth Speaks Final 2001 in Leyland, where the confident 14-year-olds competed against sixth formers, they have been practising hard and are looking forward to travelling to Bath this weekend for the "Youth Speaks to Nations" national final.

The team, James Geer (speaker) Shaun Couchman (chairperson) and Laura McLaren (vote of thanks), are being sponsored for their weekend in Bath by the St Annes Rotary Club.

Their itinerary includes a sightseeing tour of Bath on an open-topped bus and a buffet lunch at the University prior to the competition.

After the judging they will be guests at a civic reception at the Guildhall in Bath, hosted by the Mayor.

Earlier this week the team performed their hi-tech presentation during a lunch organised by the Rotary Club at the Fernlea Hotel, St Annes.

The talk went down extremely well. It is entitled LVU2 and is about text messaging, via the mobile phone and how people's social and love life can be enhanced accordingly.

Text messaging is currently very popular with young people and the talk consequently comes over as very topical and relevant to teenagers -- and a revelation to older folks!

The public speakers have received praise from adjudicators for their team work, humorous delivery and awareness of the effect on an audience. All three pupils are keen drama students and so are used to performing in public.

Michael Payne, head teacher of Lytham St Annes High School, praised the trio saying: "We are delighted with the achievement of these young people, which is all the more remarkable as they have been competing against much older students.

"To reach a national final in such an illustrious competition does great credit to the pupils themselves and the teachers who have so ably supported them, albeit in the middle of their end-of-year examinations. I have no doubt they will pull out all the stops in Bath."

ON MESSAGE: Left to right, talented talkers James, Laura and Shaun