A MEMBER of the UK Youth Parliament was the guest speaker at a recent meeting of Darlington Rotary Club.

Emily O’Hara is also a member of Darlington Youth Partnership, having been elected to promote the interests of the borough’s young people.

The youth parliament represents 250,000 young people and meets once a year in London.

Jay Burgess, another member of the youth partnership, then spoke about his involvement with a small team which attended the European Youth Congress, in the Netherlands last year.

Both Emily and Jay were supported at the meeting by Andy Whittam, youth participation officer from Darlington Borough Council.

The meeting also saw a discussion about the 2013 Richard Dimbleby lecture, in which Microsoft founder Bill Gates acknowledged the efforts of Rotarians worldwide for their campaigning to reduce polio.

Darlington Rotary Club, along with every other club in the UK, has contributed to the many millions of pounds raised to fund the vaccination programme.