THREE community projects will be operating in Trimdon Station next year, thanks to a millennium grant.

Ann Smith, secretary of the Trimdon Station Residents' Association, received a £4,400 Coalfield Community Spirit Millennium Award to get the ideas off the ground.

The first is for a nature garden, a conservation project, which will include a bumble bee habitation and hedgehog boxes, and will be available for use as a teaching aid at local schools.

There will also be a healthy eating programme, aimed at teaching people basic cookery skills.

The third project is to set up a co-operative where people would paint ceramics, sell them and use the profits for the benefit of the community.

Mrs Smith said: "This is one way in which we are trying to rebuild the community."

The County Durham Foundation is inviting further applications from individuals with good ideas for community projects.

The scheme operates across 62 wards in five local authority districts - Chester-le-Street, Derwentside, Durham, Easington and Sedgefield.

For more information, or an application pack, contact Frances Thirlway or Jacqui Conquest on 0191-383 0055.