AN annual appeal to raise funds for humanitarian projects around the world will begin in Darlington, on Saturday.

Last year, members of the Darlington Seventh-day Adventist Church, in Hird Street, collected £664 for World Wide Advent Missions projects.

Projects last year included an orphanage in Jordan, a new hospital wing in the Philippines, medicine boxes, vocational training in Azerbaijan, a special needs camp in North Wales, and a children's home in South Africa.

Almost £500,000 was raised throughout the country and all of the projects are now going ahead.

This year, as well as maintaining existing projects, World Wide Advent Missions will be funding at least six new schemes.

The largest is a child survival project in Haiti.

Others include a soup kitchen in Armenia, providing secondary school buildings in South Sudan and two refugee projects in Azerbaijan.

All collectors will wear a Home Office approved badge and carry a permit as proof of identification.