Reader Alan Beattie sent us this great picture of a colourful kingfisher he spotted on a walk through Riverside Park Ashington.

To see your pictures up on the website send them to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk or contact Richard Fletcher on 0191 201 6122.

A middle school raised a bucket load for charity...by learning their spellings!

Hirst Park Middle School in Ashington raised a staggering £1500 for Childline, as pupils across all four year groups knuckled down and took part in the spelling initiative.

The NSPCC sponsored spellathon gave the children extra incentive to ensure one hundred percent accuracy with their spellings, making the teachers and the school as proud as punch.

Teacher Jayne Norvell's year 5 class, pictured, raised the most money out of the four year groups, and enjoyed the challenge as well as an opportunity to raise some money. She said: "The children really got stuck in and did extremely well. I was very proud that my class raised the most money, and on the whole, the school did excellently. Their spelling improved and it was all for a great cause."

One year 5 pupil added: "I liked having to get sponsored because it meant I had to learn how to spell new words and I tried hard so I got most of them right!"

The situation at Rio Tinto Alcan took a turn for the worse last week with the company's announcement last Wednesday. I met the joint trade union panel the following day and had a meeting scheduled with the management for Monday morning. I requested an urgent meeting with the Rt Hon Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills, which will take place today, Wednesday.

I also requested an urgent meeting with the Rt Hon Chris Huhne MP, Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change and am awaiting his response. I will continue to work with anybody and everybody to try and secure a future for the smelter and power station.

Sent in by Ashington & District Male Voice Choir. To see your news featured contact northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk

A longstanding tradition is be changed this year when the Ashington & District Male Voice Choir performs its annual Carol Concert Holy Sepulchre Church.

This has always been at Ashington Community High School but many choir members felt that singing the concert in a church would be far more appropriate and where better than the towns Parish Church.

The Mid-Northumberland Chorus, a community choir based in Morpeth, will be holding their annual Christmas concert for the town on Saturday the 3rd December, 2011. This year's programme, which is scheduled to start at 7:30pm, will be held at the St. George's United Reformed Church on Bridge Street. Conducting the 70-strong ensemble on the night will be newly appointed Conductor of the Chorus, Paul Toward, accompanied by the organist, Peter Waugh. An additional concert will be held at Seaham Hall Hotel, County Durham onThursday the 15th December, starting at 12 noon.

The Morpeth performance will include extracts from and J. S. Bach's cantata 'Sleepers Wake,' along with a miscellany of Christmas carols. Fresh mince pies and a glass of wine will be available for all those in attendance and tickets are priced at £6 for adults, with a concession of £3 for those aged eighteen years and under. To book, or for further information, contact Chris on 01670 790268, or Gillian on 01670 515870.

The Mid-Northumberland Chorus, originally established in 1981, perform frequently in many of the region's churches and cathedrals. They aim to present a choral version of the 'Pirates of Penzance' in the spring of 2012, along with concerts towards the end of April in Ashington, Morpeth and Norham-on-Tweed.

Written by Kevin O'Hara, conservation officer at Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Where do they all go in winter? - Part 1

Recently I felt the first twangs of winter; the 'first frost' gripped my garden, the chickens came skidding out of their ark, and I had to break the ice on their drinking water. I really like those first days, when we still have some daylight left to enjoy the wonderful colours and smells. I take the camera and binoculars with me when I walk the dogs, keeping an eye out for winter thrushes or other visitors. The clocks have altered and we start the long haul of winter - not until February will some real light return to the sky, and warmth to the sun.

It is during these months that we wonder where, exactly, many of our resident wildlife species go to survive the coldest and wettest days of winter, especially those that are more delicate and less mobile.

Written by Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery

On Friday morning I visited the Tesco store in Bedlington to attend and participate in the Tesco for Schools and Clubs equipment presentation. Four local schools, St Bedes RC, Stead Lane, West End and Whitley Memorial were the beneficiaries of equipment from Tesco. It was a pleasure to meet the pupils and teachers attending from the four schools and well done to Tesco for their initiative.

Last week I met with a number of local headteachers and teachers along with representatives of Schools North East for an informal discussion regarding a range of education issues.

Sent in by Ashington and District Male Voice Choir

The recent progress of Ashington & District Male Voice Choir has been recognised with the award of a £900 grant from The 43 Fund of the Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland to buy a new piano/keyboard.

The choir performs in many venues and has to have a reliable instrument which is easily transported. The new one replaces one which was difficult to carry but gave almost 25 years of service.

A popular night of rock is coming to Ashington for the third time.
Elephantitis III, an alternative rock night, will take place at The Elephant in Ashington on Saturday October 22.
Bands Sorry For Nothing and Go Go Midgets are both playing, and the special guest is Mick Rolfe. The DJ set is by Mark Redpath.
Doors at 7.30pm, and the cost is £3.50.

We have started out OUT REACH sessions, and our Disability Hate Crime reporting point.

If any disabled person has been a victim of hate crime and donot want to go to the police station, they can come to the WDF and we will take all the information and pass it on to the police. We offer a 24/7 phone number that people can either ring to repot a crime. or if they just need to talk.

If they need further help we will sign post them to the right place and people that can help. We will support them all the way.
Our Out Reach sessions are now in Newbiggin By The Sea at the Arts Forum, next meeting in November, and at the Stakeford and Bomarsund welfare center. These will be held the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month. The parish council are funding our venue there and are supporting the WDF and the work we do.David Nicholson the parish clerk has not only been a great help but most of all the support we have had from David has been endless.

You can go on the WDF web site where you can find what we are doing and when. Please come along for a cuppa and a chat and get to know our team, we look forward to helping where we can