THERE was a full house when Colwall Rotary Club held its youth night at the Malvern Hills Hotel.

The special guests were Julia Evans and Liz Kershaw from Longlands Care Farm and Neil Hornby from the Bridge Training and Development Centre, two organisations providing vulnerable young people with educational opportunities outside the mainstream, which the Rotary Club has been supporting over the past 12 months.

Faye Brock from the Chase Academy and winner of the club's young chef competition worked with the hotel chef to cook the meal of mushroom and leek filo pastry parcels followed by raspberry souffles. Faye gained many plaudits from the diners for the superb standard of the meal.

The meal was followed by speakers including Matilda Williams, who spoke of her Rotary Youth Exchange with a girl in Japan.

She had previously taken a GCSE in Japanese, but said how much spending time in Japan had helped to develop her language. After A-levels she now hopes to take a gap year in Japan. She thanked Colwall Rotary for helping to provide an opportunity she would not otherwise had had.

Adam Ali talked about the week he spent at the Rotary Youth Leadership Award Camp in the Forest of Dean, the friends he had made, the skills he had developed and how it had helped increase his confidence.

Charlotte Eyre talked about her experiences undertaking the National Citizenship Service course, the fun parts, the hard parts and what they gained from it

And Francesca Watson talked about the World Challenge Expedition she hopes to go on in 2020 and the fund raising she is required to do, thanking Colwall Rotary for the contribution they made.

President Simon Thompson said: “It was a showcase for what Colwall Rotary does to help young people and the importance the club places on it. I would encourage all young people to investigate the opportunities provided by Rotary and other organisations, such as the National Citizenship and World Challenge, that help to broaden their horizons and develop their values and character.”