Members of a church congregation have helped redecorate the school, which gave them a new home when they had to move because an insurance company could no longer insure their Victorian building.

The Church of Saint Laurence in the Parish of Middleton Saint George, near Darlington, in the Diocese of Durham, moved to St George’s Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School in the village after the insurance company withdrew cover in 2008. The decision came after several falls of roof plaster, some of which came down into the nave, and the porch was also deemed unsafe. Church Commissioners have since agreed that the church should be closed for worship.

Newly-arrived music teacher Joanne Kemp has launched St Aidan’s Church of England Academy’s first Folk Club to help students share her passion for music.

Joanne, who joined the Darlington Academy in January, loves music and was for nine years a member of the Band of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, a TA band in Newcastle, as well as being a regular folk performer for years.

“This is really important to me. It had taken all our lives to find each other and to have the ring blessed again by the Bishop will mean a lot. It means it will carry all those promises that Dave made on our wedding day.”

A rewards scheme which is being run at St Aidan’s Church of England Academy in Darlington is proving a real success. 

The Model Student scheme, which was launched last year, rewards students for displaying the attributes of the core values, care, respect and responsibility along with good attendance, positive attitude and hard work. 

North-East financial adviser Carterbar will be the ball sponsor for this Saturday’s big FA Vase Trophy game between non-league football club Billingham Synthonia and Bournemouth FC.

Financial Adviser Carterbar is celebrating after every member of staff completed new qualifications demanded by the industry’s governing body. Team members at the company, which is based in Billingham, Teesside, have been steadily accumulating their qualifications to fit in with a programme introduced by the Financial Services Authority to substantially raise standards in the industry.

North-East Financial Adviser Carterbar has expanded the service it offers ahead of major changes that will require businesses to establish pension funds for their employees.

The Teesside company has taken the step to counter a ‘deeply disturbing’ lack of awareness among employers and their staff about the dramatic changes that the legislation will make to their lives.

St Aidan’s Church of England Academy in Darlington has strengthened its language teaching with the arrival of a Foreign Language Assistant from France.

In an ancient ceremony dating back to the formation of the House of Lords, The Right Reverend Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham will be introduced to the House of Lords on Thursday 12th January 2012. 

It makes a really refreshing change to be able to let you know about a round of funding that is available for NE England SME businesses. The funding is available as part of an ERDF investment programme for SME's engaged in mainly B2B activities which are undertaking revenue projects that will produce tangible results to create or safeguard jobs.

SME's can apply for the funding via this program directly or using a qualified North East Service Providers like ourselves to seed the project for them.

So if you have a 2012 initiative that might be: