n THE Rotary Club of South Westmorland is to stage its annual Swimarathon event at Kendal Leisure Centre on March 5 and 12. There are still times available on both evenings between 4pm and 8pm and teams of up to six people are required to swim in relays for one hour. The entry fee is £7.50 per adult team and £6 per junior team. Teams are able to raise monies by sponsorship for their own charities but are requested to pay ten per cent of their funds to the Rotary Club. This year's chosen charity of the club is the Rotary Tsunami Disaster Appeal providing support to those affected by the disaster. Anyone wanting to enter a team should contact Howard Robinson on 015395-67955 (daytime) or 07801-672840 (evening).

n SOUTH Lakeland World Development Movement workers are to hand deliver 16,000 leaflets to households throughout the area as part of a Vote for Trade Justice' campaign. The organisation is concerned that governments throughout the world keep setting targets for poverty reduction and promising large amounts of aid but are not sure how much is getting through successfully. Local people are being asked to vote for trade justice in ballot boxes available in Kendal Town Hall; the Oxfam shop' Kendal; Kan Foods and Caf Ole, Kendal; Low Sizergh Barn and most churches. The cards will be delivered to Prime Minister Tony Blair as part of a national effort to collect a million signatures.

n THREE schoolchildren walked from Patton to Kendal and back earlier this month and raised £140 towards the tsunami disaster appeal. The trio of fundraisers were Queen Katherine School, Kendal, pupils Amy Graham, 13, and Emma Matthews, 12, and Ghyllside School, Kendal, student Sammy Matthews.

n THE Holker and Cartmel Valley District Committee of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), is holding a winter sale with an entry fee of £1, tomorrow (Saturday) from 10am to noon, in Lower Holker Village Hall. Quality clothes, bric-a-brac and books will be among items on offer.