Durham County Council’s Fostering and Adoption Service is appealing for a family to provide a loving home to an 11-year-old sporty, football loving boy called Thomas. He says: “Hi my name is Thomas and I’m 11-years-old. “I love football, I’m a star player in my local team and Newcastle United is my favourite team in the whole...

The story of a real-life War Horse is told in a new exhibition. The display at County Hall, Durham, is based on the diary of a First World War soldier serving in the Durham Light Infantry. It has been put together by Durham County Record Office to coincide with the release of the film War Horse, based on Michael Morpurgo’s...

Glen Robertson starts a new feature on Aycliffe Today, looking back at some of the North-East’s favourite ex-footballers. Appropriately, Quakers legend Craig Liddle kicks off in today's debut... Craig Liddle is simply a legend to fans of Darlington Football Club. The 40-year-old made over 300 appearances for Quakers, before going on to...

Aycliffe Today’s resident chef Debbie Elizabeth serves up a weekly mouthwatering suggestion specially for our readers. This week… Slow roasted lamb shoulders with lemon and potatoes! Ingredients.. 1 1/2 kg shoulders of lamb (cut into 4 with the bone left in) 10 cloves garlic (skin on) 11/2 kg potatoes (waxy, such as desiree)...

Byerley Park Primary School Swimming Team has raced their way again to finish in first place in the Sedgefield Schools’ Gala and this amazing result means that they have qualified for the County Final. The Gala was held in the Newton Aycliffe Pool last Friday (January 20), when the youngsters won a total of 15 out of a possible 17...

A new £1.5m scheme is set to help hundreds of County Durham families to get out of the unemployment trap. It will give specialist and intensive support to the families who need it the most – helping those with a long history of worklessness to overcome the barriers they face in finding employment. The Families with Multiple Problems...

Brodie Millichap picks out this week’s TV highlights… Picks of the week Farewell Becky, Tuesday ITV1 7.30pm After six years of playing feisty Becky, Katherine Kelly is leaving the Street this week after she reveals Tracy to be the deceitful, vindictive bride-to-be that the viewers have come to see. This show celebrates Becky’s...

As Aycliffe Today launched itself to the world this morning, and makes its way onto the timeline, we pick out a few other choice happenings to have occurred on this wonderful day in history... Making history... In 1930, Bernard Matthews, the founder of Bernard Matthews Farms Limited, a company that is best-known for farming turkeys and...

Electrical Fire Safety Week (January 23-29) The Fire Kills campaign together with County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service are warning people not to let electrical failures set their world alight as part of Electrical Fire Safety Week this 23-29 January. Shocking statistics show that half of all accidental house fires in...

A possible new way of safeguarding leisure and cultural services for the future will be considered by Durham County Council’s Cabinet this week (Wednesday). In light of large scale reductions in Government grants the council must make savings of at least £145.8M over the next five years. As a result the authority is looking at new...