TWO former Sunderland University buildings are being demolished to make way for an apartment complex, in The Cloisters, in the Ashbrooke area of the city.

Work has begun knocking down Park and Williamson halls, to be replaced with 53 apartments by developer Barratt.

PRISON CARE: A conference will focus on support available to inmates and their families during imprisonment and on release. The day-long event, held by North-East Prison After-Care Society, will take place at St Aidan's College, Durham, on Friday, April 25. Durham Prison's governor, Mike Newell, will be joined by film producer Roger Graef, criminologist David Wilson and prison studies expert Ann Mace as speakers.

FAIRTRADE VISIT: Ghanaian cocoa farmer Comfort Kwaasibea and Rijayatu, a 15-year-old daughter of a co-operative farmer in Ghana, will visit Red Rose Primary School, in Chester-le-Street, as part of Fairtrade Fortnight, on Wednesday, March 12. Red Rose pupils are also mounting a display at Chester-le-Street's Co-op store to persuade shoppers to try fair trade products as part of a drive to promote third-world growers and producers.

EXHIBITION FIRST: Easington MP John Cummings will open the first County Durham showing of a national exhibition, One in Four, at East Durham and Houghall Community College, in Peterlee, today. Produced to help overcome the stigma of mental health and learning disabilities, it features photographs of famous and ordinary people and tells of their experiences of mental health problems.

MOSAIC LAUNCH: Pupils from Catchgate Primary School, near Stanley, County Durham, will be joined by local historian Hylton Marrs and artist Andrew McKeown at the unveiling of a mosaic reflecting the area's mining heritage, on Wednesday, at 2pm. The event, at Catchgate Communal Rooms, features a display of the work which has gone into creating the mosaic.

DURHAM REMEMBERED: Local historian Michael Richardson will present a talk and slide-show on people in Durham between 1935 and 1960, at St Cuthbert's Hospice, Merryoaks, Durham, on Wednesday, March 26, at 7pm. Tickets are £3.50, available on 0191-386 1170.

CONSERVING PAST: Archaeologist and conservator Clare Hucklesby will discuss techniques to preserve relics and artefacts, at Durham's Oriental Museum, off South Road, on Saturday, at 2pm

TAX INCREASE: Hetton Town Council is set to approve a rise of about one per cent in its portion of the final bill for council taxpayers.