Volunteers are asked to help clear playing fields between the A1(M) and Belmont Industrial Estate, on the outskirts of Durham, today.

John Everett, who lives in nearby Carrville, is looking for help with the clearance between 8.30am and 2pm.

CHOIR NIGHT: Collegium Regale, from King's College, Cambridge, will perform tomorrow at 8pm, in Elvet Methodist Church, Old Elvet, Durham. Tickets are £10, and £8 for Durham Cathedral Choir Association members, available from the Tourist Information Centre in Millennium Place.

NEW CENTRE: North Washington Sure Start's £850,000 Rainbow Family Centre, in Elliot Terrace, Concord, which will provide services to more than 750 children aged up to 12, has been opened.

AROMA COURSE: Park View Community Association is running an aromatherapy course at its centre in Church Chare, Chester-le-Street. Classes begin on Wednesday, April 30, at 7pm. To book, call 0191-388 1043.

LIFE ABSEIL: Abseiling down the International Centre for Life, in Newcastle, will take place on May 10 and 11, in aid of the Royal National Institute for the Blind. To take part, call (01388) 528297.

FLAG CASH: The Durham branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution held its best ever flag day in the city last month, raising £1,241, a 20 per cent increase on last year.

WARD SURGERY: Easington district councillor Robin Todd will hold a surgery for people in the South Hetton ward today, from 10am to noon, in the Community Centre, South Hetton.

BRIDGE WORK: Wearmouth Bridge, in Sunderland, will be reduced to one lane in each direction for 12 hours from 6.30pm tonight, while workers remove scaffolding.

CLUB FAIR: Newton Hall Senior Citizens' Club will hold a fair at 2pm on Saturday, April 26, in All Saints' Church, Newton Hall, Durham.

TABLE-TOP SALE: A table-top sale will take place in the community centre, Crookhall, near Consett, from 1pm today.

BEASTLY BUGS: A Bugs and Beasts event is being staged at Lanchester Community Centre today, from 9.30am to 3pm. It will feature spiders and other exotic insects, amphibians, reptiles and birds of prey. Admission is £1 for adults and 50p for children, with refreshments available.

BOB BUILDING: A Bob the Builder look-a-like will help fix the signage to signal the opening of the new Rainbow Family Centre, in Concord, Washington, today. More than 2,000 residents have been invited to visit the £850,000 centre, in Elliot Terrace, from 11am.