OUT-OF-HOURS clubs will get a boost to their publicity thanks to The Northern Echo's Communigate free web-hosting service.

Staff from Busybodies, in Ouston, and Dipton Out of School Hours Club, both in County Durham, have been attending training sessions to learn how to set up websites to boost the numbers of children attending.

The Communigate team has been running weekly sessions in the Busybodies room at Ouston Primary School.

Community web editor Karen Maughan said: "My own children have been to out-of-school clubs in the past, so I know how vital the service is to working parents."

Gillian Raine, of the Dipton club said: "It has been marvellous. They ran through everything with us step by step."

Other groups benefiting from the Ouston workshops include Birtley Athletics Club, and the Tarka group, which aim to develop and support services for schoolchildren.

Working indoors is something of a change for the Communigate team members, who are used to running workshops on the Communigate bus.

The bus, sponsored by Barclays, has been converted with tables and seating areas, and has four laptops, which can also be used indoors.

Each laptop has a connection to the Internet, which is funded by communications partner Orange, as are the workshops that the team run.

The Communigate service is supported by Northumbria University. To find out about workshops, call (01325) 505270.