A FORMER North-East schoolgirl has organised a reunion with classmates from the other side of the world.

Jennifer Dodds (nee Wilkinson), who now lives in Victoria, Australia, decided earlier this year that she'd like to catch up with old friends from Eastbourne Secondary Modern Girls' School, Darlington.

Via e-mail and phone calls, she managed to track down about 40 girls who left the school in 1962 and 1963.

The women will meet up for an informal reunion at the town's Cleveland Bridge engineering club, in Neasham Road, next Wednesday, at 6.30pm.

Mother-of-one Mrs Dodds, who works at a university, is hoping even more pupils from the class of 1959 will turn up.

She said: "We've got people coming from all over the country and beyond, including a girl who now lives in Canada.

"I thought it would be nice to find out how everyone is doing after all these years. It wasn't too hard to arrange, thanks to email and the Internet."

For details about the reunion, call Mrs Dodds, who is on holiday in Darlington at the moment, on (01325) 469186.