THE Duke of Gloucester helped a school and a charity celebrate milestone anniversaries during a visit to the region today (Tuesday, November 11).

Prince Richard unveiled commemorative plaques at Woodlea Primary School in Fences Houses, near Chester-le-Street and Disc, a social inclusion charity based in Newton Aycliffe.

At Woodlea, the Duke capped a year of centenary celebrations - with headteacher Phil Adamson describing his visit as “the icing on the cake.”

The school buildings date from 1913 and have housed an infant and junior school and secondary school before Woodlea was established.

The school, which has 233 pupils aged three to 11, has held a variety of events to mark its centenary but the Royal visit could not be arranged until now.

During his tour, the Duke met staff and pupils of all ages, looked at centenary art work, a mining-style banner, ate dinner in the school hall and heard a performance of songs from the school musical before unveiling the plaque commemorating his visit.

He also talked to the oldest surviving pupil, 92-year-old Nancy Sweeting, the second oldest, Joyce Moore, 90, as well as Arnold Hood, who attended the school in 1944 and Alan Yardley, a pupil in 1939 and whose mother was a teacher.

Mr Adamson said: “We couldn’t have rounded off the year better. We were very busy during 2013 but I think the Royal Family was even busier!”

In Newton Aycliffe, the Queen’s cousin discovered how DISC (Developing Initiatives for Support in the Community) has been helping people from all backgrounds reach their potential for 30 years.

From small beginnings in 1984, he learned how it has grown to become a nationally important charity, operating from over 30 bases across the north and helping more than 10,000 people a year.

The Duke spoke to staff, volunteers and people who have benefitted from a range of projects in areas such as housing, drugs and alcohol support, employability and the More Time social enterprise scheme.

He also unveiled a commemorative plaque and was presented with an anthology of poems written by members of DISC’S mental health project in Darlington.

The Duke said: “It seems to me you take the sort of problems people would rather leave to someone else and you find ways of solving the problems –either one at a time or several at a time- in order to give people a better chance of getting on in life.”