THOUSANDS of people will gather for a party in a north Durham park this weekend.

The free event, taking place in Blackhill and Consett Park in Consett, marks the end of the We're Celebrating Your Success in Derwentside initiative.

The year-long project attempted to raise levels of aspiration in education, business and the arts.

It was a joint initiative by the Local Strategic Partnership, Derwentside College, JobCentre Plus and the business community.

Twenty-six people from across the district received achievement awards at a ceremony last year.

The recipients included Betty Hetherington, from White-le-Head, near Stanley.

Mrs Hetherington, 62, left school at 14 unable to read, but went back to college and is now a teacher.

Other winners were 17-year-old Stephen Westgarth, from Delves Lane, Consett, who has developed a website for his village hall, and Bob Liddle, 56, from Stanley, who took early retirement when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis but went on to work for his local Council for Voluntary Services and the Citizen's Advice Bureau.

This Sunday, from 11am there will be music, entertainment and free activities in the park to bring the campaign to a close.

Celebrating Success Sunday will feature Consett Junior Brass Band, who will play in the restored Victorian bandstand, and the Metro Radio roadshow with Alan Robson.

There will also be North-East pop acts, brought in by Stanley-based Genius Entertainment.

For younger children, there will be inflatable fun, traditional circus performers and a supervised activity corner.

More than 5,000 people are expected to be at the event and organisers are urging people to arrive on foot or use public transport.