Four West Devon youngsters are leading the way for change as they work with the Tavistock Lions as ambassadors on the upcoming town carnvial and projects for the good of the community.

Kourtney Flower, Mary Brogden and Samuel Page, from Tavistock Primary and Nursery School, and Harry Malthouse from Mary Tavy and Brentor Community Primary School, all in Year 6 (pictured above), put themselves forward for the opportunity when the Lions announced that they were to break with tradition and update the role of carnival princess and female attendants.

These are being replaced by four young ambassadors of both sexes for this year’s Tavistock Carnival on Saturday, July 15.

With weekly sessions seeing the young ambassadors working in tandem with Lions Alan Wroath and Therese Frattaroli well underway, they have been pooling ideas on what they will wear and do during Carnival Week, especially at the Lions’ Fun Day and in the carnival procession, with the finished result being kept under wraps — to be revealed on the day.

The youngsters will also be working with the Lions for some of their other events throughout the year, especially at Christmas.

Alan, who has over 40 years experience working in education, said: ‘The previous structure saw a single-sex role and a hierarchy which we wanted a change from. Whilst involvement gave children confidence and poise, we wanted to extend this to more of them. Now we have four fantastic young ambassadors, two boys and two girls, taking this forward, sharing ideas and responsibilities, interacting well and bouncing off one another. They make a real team!’

In addition to creating instruments for the procession in line with the carnival’s musical theme and designing a float to be showcased at the parade, the pupils are working on individual projects, with Harry helping to run a dog show, Kourtney assisting the West Devon Art Workshops as they get to work with arts and crafts and Samuel selling DVDs which have been donated.

Mary said of wanting to be an ambassador: ‘It sounded really fun and something to do that would be enjoyable. It’s a great thing to do to help the community.’

Following their involvement with the carnvial procession, the four pupils will meet with mayor Andy Hutton at the town hall on the day.

Therese said: ‘So far, this has been very successful. It’s so rewarding to see so many enthusiams and ideas with these young people put to work. It’s a great model to have developed and to use for future years.’