BUSKER'S VOW: Redcar's charity busker Norman Evans is aiming to give a Christmas present to charity shops in the town. He has pledged to raise £100 each for shops including Age Concern, Kidney Research, Heart Foundation Oxfam and Red Cross, along with Redcar Lifeboat and the Mission to Seafarers.

EDUCATIONAL ODYSSEY: The Great Ayton Branch of the Workers' Educational Association has organised a 19th Century Odyssey with Clifton Stockdale. The event takes place over ten sessions at the Friends' Meeting House, High Green, Great Ayton, starting on Tuesday January 11, from 1.30pm to 3.30pm. For details, call Deb Pattison on (01642) 724640.

Bin collections: There will be refuse collections up to and including today across east Cleveland, but there will no collections on December 27, December 28 and January 3.