It is always difficult at a Youth Club to find things for the youngsters to do, especially as the nights are drawing in (writes Joanne, a club leader at Carew).

However, as last year's torchlight walk was such a success, we decided to take advantage of the darker evenings and take the members out for a walk. Lesley and Gwen had kindly volunteered to organise the evening, with Helen and Vanessa offering to prepare hot chocolate for everyone upon our return.

We set off from the club across the bridge. Here the group made their way over the stile into the first field. Lesley told the group to wait while she went into the middle of the field and they were to all to run to her when she blew the whistle. Well, Lesley blew the whistle and they all surged forward like a herd of bulls! One minute Lesley was a lone figure in the field, the next she had disappeared as she was surrounded by the mass!

Having gathered them all in the centre of the field, they were told to run to the edge and find the numbers that had been placed in the hedgerows. The white pieces of paper could just be made out in the fading light. The noise levels were a little on the high side as they all dashed round the field trying to find the numbers.

They then returned to the centre of the field with the numbers they had found. Had they have known what Lesley had planned, they may not have been so keen to find a number! As Lesley called a number out, the person who had found it had to go into the centre of the circle and perform a forfeit.

Some of the lucky few won prizes (much to their relief, as they had watched others doing press-ups, jogging on the spot and reciting nursery rhymes). All in all, it was a great success and everyone really enjoyed themselves.

Once the game was over, we made our way over the fields to the Carew Mill. The group made their way over stiles and fields in the dark. We were a little bit worried at one point when Lesley led us completely in the wrong direction and we ended up the wrong end of the field! She told us she knew exactly where she was going and was just testing our sense of direction (of which we had none!).

The last leg of the walk was across the Mill bridge and down the lane. The group were in high spirits by now as it was pitch black.

John had warned them to look out for strange people who may be lurking around. As they started down the lane there were huge screams as a figure dressed in black leapt out from behind the bushes!

This was followed by roars of laughter as the masked person removed the disguise and the relieved group realised it was Susan (hope no-one was too scared, we know how frightening Sue can be!).

Anyway, we all arrived back at the Youth Club for our hot chocolate and biscuits, minus the mud and muck we acquired on last year's walk, which was amazing considering the fields were full of, well I think you can guess what!

Many thanks to Lesley and Gwen for the time taken to prepare the evening. The club is always well supported and this was shown as there were several adults who came along and enjoyed the walk too.

The club are holding a family quiz evening, in aid of Youth Club funds, on Friday, October 24, at 7 pm, at the Carew Memorial Hall. We hope this too will be well supported, so please come along and join in the fun.