NURSERY AWARDS: North-East childcare group Kids 1st Nurseries (CORR), which has sites at Wynyard Park, Darlington and Durham, has topped the Nursery World league table for the second year in a row. Managing director Mark McArdle said: “I am so proud that we are at the top of this league table for the second year running. It is an amazing achievement to be rated outstanding by Ofsted and in eight years we have had eight outstanding reports.”

BOOK SIGNING: The family of the late First World War veteran George Russell Elder, who wrote a book about his experiences in the trenches, will sign copies of From Geordie Land to No Man’s Land, at Waterstones, in Darlington, on Friday, November 9, from 11am. A signing will take place at the chain’s Sunderland store from noon on Sunday, November 11.