A WREXHAM rotary club have been presented with a top national award for helping school-leavers.

Wrexham Erddig Rotary Club have won the the Len Smith Cup for Vocational Service in recognition of the club’s achievement in setting up mock interviews at which students in Wrexham schools are given a taste of applying for jobs before leaving school.

The Len Smith Cup, named after the senior past president of Rotary International, is fought over by all clubs in Great Britain and Ireland. At their recent meeting at the Ramada Hotel on Thursday (May 2), members of Wrexham Erddig Rotary Club were presented with the award.

President Debbie Hodge, who heads up Britain’s 1700 Rotary clubs, was on hand to congratulate members of the club on their achievement and urged them to continue the good work in Wrexham schools.

Mock Interviews were developed in the late 1990’s by late club member Chris Jones in an attempt to assist secondary school pupils prepare for leaving school and entering working life. Funding from a National Lottery grant helped to produce the materials required to support the initiative. The 17 years since it was set up has seen considerable development of the scheme with support from Careers Wales and other Wrexham Rotary Clubs.

On the day of the interviews, the soon-to-be school leavers attend an 'interview' with one of the club’s members. Members of the club represent many varied forms of employment and are able to question, and later advise, pupils on how to approach and succeed at this vital stage of their lives.

Speaking at St Joseph’s School earlier in the day, President Hodge said that she was most impressed with the enthusiasm shown by pupils who had been through the interviews.

Chris Wilkinson, headteacher, said: "Mock interviews are one of the most influential ways we can help our pupils prepare for their working lives.

"Interviews are can be very challenging and nerve-wracking, so giving the students the opportunity to practice them is vital. We have to prepare them for adult life."

Since it was set up, over 12,000 youngsters in the six participating Wrexham secondary schools have benefitted from the scheme, with over 7,000 being in the last 10 years.

Over 2550 hours have been donated by Wrexham Erddig Rotarians in interviewing them. The benefits of the scheme have been felt well beyond the town’s boundaries, with linked rotary clubs in the USA adopting it in their local high schools.