COMMUNITIES in the North East have been awarded more than £57,000 in National Lottery funding.

The money will help them commemorate and celebrate the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

In the coming months, a series of VE and VJ Day events will take place across the region thanks to the contribution from the National Lottery's Home Front Recall scheme.

The £12.3m project aims to support activities commemorating the part played by those on the home front during the war, including firefighters, auxiliary services, nurses and dock workers.

Lottery grants announced today will fund projects in the region including re-enactment days, drama workshops, reunions for veterans, concerts, exhibitions and storytelling events.

Celebrate the 1940s will be the public event in Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

A grant of £3,310 has been awarded to Bishop Auckland Town Centre Forum to host activities in the main shopping area, Newgate Street, and the Newgate Shopping Centre on Friday, June 4.

Bishop Auckland town centre manager Derek Toon said: "We hope to turn this into an annual event so that every year the young people of our community will be able to remember the servicemen and women who sacrificed their lives and the efforts of those on the home front during the war."

The Heugh Battery Youth Volunteers Initiative, in Hartlepool, will use its £6,800 award to hold VJ Day commemoration events on the weekend of Saturday, August 13 and Sunday, August 14 at the Heugh Gun Battery.

The Chester-le-Street Sea Cadet Unit, in County Durham, has received more than £13,000 to stage a drama production.

The Home Front Recall scheme has received an additional £5m. The deadline for organisations, veterans, widows and widowers to apply for grants has been extended to May 31.

For more details call 0845 410 2030.