WEAR Valley Justice and Peace Group will hold a Fair Trade Day at the Methodist Church Hall, Dawson Street, Crook, on Friday.

Fairly traded goods on sale will include crafts, and festive cards, decorations and food from 10.30am to 4.30pm.

Susan Scott, from Traidcraft, will be there to answer questions after 1pm.

Carol Morton, of Palcrafts/Hadeel, which supports crafts from community groups in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon, will give a talk called Palestine and Fair Trade, from 7pm.

Mrs Morton's husband, Colin, was minister of the Church of Scotland congregation at St Andrew's Church in Jerusalem from 1988 to 1997.

She recognised a need for Palestinian self-help groups to market their crafts and she opened a shop in Jerusalem.

On their return to Edinburgh, Mrs Morton continued to import crafts from Palestine, which were sold locally and by mail order and the company developed from there.

In 2003, a committee was formed and two companies registered: Palcrafts, a Scottish charity, and Hadeel, a shop in Edinburgh.

Doors open at 6pm before the talk, and the Palestinian crafts will be on sale before and after the talk, alongside other Fair Trade stalls.

For further information, contact Belinda Burke on (01388) 762620.

* Crook Library will be serving tea and coffee with a tombola on Friday, from 9.30am. Proceeds are in aid of the Wear It Pink Breast Cancer Campaign.

l Belle Vue Workingmen's Club, in Crook, will hold a Halloween Family Fun Night with fancy dress tonight, from 6.30pm to 10.30pm.

l Anyone who has items of community news from Crook can contact grassroots correspondent John Phelan on (01388) 768551.