THE Nevilles Cross branch of Friends of Cancer Research UK will be in Durham City's Milburngate Shopping Centre from December 6 to December 14, selling baubles for £1 to fill their tree of remembrance. The group would also like to thank everyone who took part in their sponsored walk for breast cancer research month, which raised £1,600.

SCHOOLS' GOLD: Downhill Infants and Nursery School, in South Shields, has won gold in the Best Small School category at the Tyne and Wear Investors in People Outstanding Practice Awards. King George V School, also in South Shields, won silver in the Best Large School section. Mike Byrne, the headteacher at Marsden Primary School, won a Key Champion Silver Award.

PLAY READING: Children and adults are invited to attend the first reading of a modern version of Romeo and Juliet, at Abbey Day Centre, Abbey Road, Pity Me, from 4pm to 6pm today. It is open to those interested in taking part both onstage and backstage, and the show will run at Durham's Gala Theatre in March. For more details, call 0191-383 1661.

ART EXHIBITION: An exhibition by award-winning artist Peter Quinn is on show at Gallagher and Turner, St Thomas Street Workshops, Newcastle, from November 30 to December 21. Entitled New Paintings, it features scenes from Venice and Texas as well as local landmarks. Admission is free.

REFUGEE SUCCESS: The New Deal for Newcastle West Partnership will give a talk on the success of a project to provide cultural activities for refugees and asylum-seekers in Newcastle's West End. The talk is at 4.30pm today, in Pendower Hall, West Road, Newcastle.

CHRISTMAS CONCERT: Belmont Ladies Choir and Pittington Brass Band give a Christmas concert at St Nicholas Church, in Durham, on Monday, December 9. Tickets are available at the door. The concert starts at 7pm.

CHRISTMAS FAIR: St Cuthbert's and St Aidan's Church, in Framwellgate Moor, Durham, is holding a Christmas fair on Saturday November 30, in the parish hall, between 10am and 12.30pm. Admission is free.

BARD SHOW: The English Touring Theatre brings its production of King Lear, starring Timothy West, to Durham's Gala Theatre this week. The show runs until Saturday. For tickets, call 0191-332 4062.

HEALING SESSION: The National Federation of Spiritual Healers is holding a healing session on Saturday, from 1.30pm to 4pm, at Shakespeare Hall, North Road, Durham.

MALES WANTED: The Gala Theatre Stage School is looking for young men aged between 15 and 24 to take part in a production of West Side Story. If you are interested, call Lisa Thorner on 0191-332 4054.

HEALTH BOSS: Beryl Balls, 54, a deputy agent at the Bank of England, has joined the board of the Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic Health Authority