FUNDRAISERS are appealing for cash support for a £65,000 scheme to help the elderly in County Durham with odd jobs around the home.

The Help The Aged Durham/Wearside Fundraising Committee has written to town and parish councils, and Sedgefield Borough Council and Durham County Council, asking for money towards the scheme.

The committee has already pledged £8,000 of its own money to give the Handy Van scheme a good start.

Chairman Peter Beaty said that Handy Vans were in use throughout the south of the country and as far north as Leeds, but there was a desperate need for one in County Durham.

He said yesterday: "I have been inundated with calls. Only today I had ten calls from elderly people wanting gardening done.

"I have been badgering to have a Handy Van in the county for the last three years.''

Mr Beaty said that he was already operating a scheme in Newton Aycliffe, where a group of skilled volunteers carry out free work for the elderly on an occasional basis.

At first, the estimated cost to get the Handy Van service operating was £80,000, but now the committee is looking at £65,000 for the first year and a further £55,000 every year after that to keep it running.

Mr Beaty said: "As you can appreciate, the initial cost to cover van insurance, tax, servicing and a full-time handy- man is extremely high."

He said he accepted that the it would take a long time to raise the money, and that was why he was looking for the councils to provide support for the scheme.

He said: "We would be covering every senior citizen in the whole of County Durham. These people pay their council tax and this will give them a service.

"We have already had some positive feedback from councils saying it will be discussed at their next meetings."

Plans for future fundraising events are already in the pipeline, with a country fair planned for July at Whitworth Hall, in Spennymoor, the ancestral home of folk hero Bobby Shafto.

Anyone who would like to help with fundraising can call Mr Beaty on (01325) 313924.