A YOUTH club is hoping members from the past 50 years will turn up for a reunion next month.

The Shildon Methodist Youth Connection, widely known until the late 1970s as The Wes, started life in the 1950s and has been attended by hundreds of people in the town.

Affiliated to the Methodist Association of Youth Clubs (MAYC) since the 1950s, the group has twice performed at the Royal Albert Hall, in 1977 and 1991, as part of the association's annual London Weekend.

The reunion, at the Railway Institute, Redworth Road, has been organised by club leaders John Hodgson, who took over the running of the group in the late 1970s, and Susan Horner.

When Mr Hodgson took control, the club was moved to Sunday nights from Tuesdays and Fridays and changed its name.

As well as the Albert Hall shows, the Youth Connection has taken generations of Shildon youngsters on trips abroad, including visits to Yugoslavia, France and Austria.

The reunion takes place on Friday, November 23, from 7.30pm. Tickets, are available from Mr Hodgson on (01388) 774756 or Ms Horner on (01388) 773171.