TELEVISION cop show Merseybeat star John McArdle will be at the Brewery Arts Centre, in Kendal, on Tuesday, to launch a new charity service in South Lakeland. The star, who plays Superintendent Jim Oulton, and has appeared in Brookside, Casualty and Holby City, hosts a roadshow, in the Malt Room from 1pm to 6pm, to open a three-year project to help people with dementia.The Memory Advice and Support Service, from charity Alzheimer's dementia care and research, will aim to maximise the quality of life for people with dementia, as well as their carers, families and friends. The service will provide a range of help, including one-to-one home care, information forums, assisting people with memory problems in leisure activities and supporting people newly diagnosed with dementia. For information call 01539-742631.

THE South Lakes Baby Caf has received a £600 grant from the Divisional Grants Panel of Cumbria County Council in National Breast Feeding Awareness Week (May 9-15). Run by volunteers from 1.30pm to 3pm every Thursday at the YWCA in Kendal, the caf is for breast feeding mothers. The money will provide information, room hire and training. The volunteers will be trained so that they can provide peer support for other breast-feeding mothers. Training will start in September and a free crche will be available. A booklet is also being produced that will contain essential information for new mums on where there are breast feeding friendly places. Any mothers who feel they would like to support new mums can contact Jill Barnes on 01539-732897 for more information.

THE minister of Kirkby Lonsdale Methodist Church, the Rev Andrew Webb, is to have his head shaved to raise money for charity. The sponsored event on Sunday (May 16), in the new hall at the church, will raise cash to be split between the church extension appeal and Tommy's the baby charity. The extension has cost £240,000 and the money from this hair-erasing venture will go towards furnishings. Tommy's works, to understand the causes of premature birth, stillbirth and miscarriage, is a cause close to Mr Webb's heart as his middle son, Jacob, was stillborn ten years ago.

ELIZABETH Gruar, of Holme, who is a member of Yealand Friends' Meeting, walked from her home on Burton Road to Fox's Pulpit on Firbank Fell to raise money for the Quaker Tapestry, which is celebrating ten years in Kendal this year. Keeping mainly to footpaths, lanes and minor roads, she completed the walk in about seven hours, much of it in rain, and found several members of Yealand Meeting arriving at the same time to welcome her. She said: "I had hoped to raise about £100, but so far at least £200 has come in."

WALKERS are being asked to stroll eight miles across the sands of Morecambe Bay, from Arnside to Kents Bank, in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care tomorrow (Saturday). Those taking part will be escorted by the Queen's Guide to the Sands, Cedric Robinson, starting at 3.30pm. Last year, more than 110 walkers raised £5,600 for Marie Curie Cancer Care's Cumbria, north Lancashire and Isle of Man fund-raising office. People must register prior to the event by contacting the fund-raising office on 01229-822003.

VOLUNTEERS from the Furness area are preparing to embark on the Lakeside YMCA Prince's Trust three month personal development training course. The course will see them undertake a project in the local community and a week-long residential course at Lakeside. Along the way they will also raise funds for a local charity and study for certificates in Food Hygiene, Health and Safety and First Aid. Any young people interested in the course should contact the Lakeside Prince's Trust in Barrow on 01229-870249.

SOUTH Lakeland Council for Voluntary Service has set up regular drop-in sessions around the area for training, funding and advice on running a voluntary or community group. The sessions take place in Ulverston, at Cross Street, on the second Thursday of every month; in Sedbergh at the Community Offices on the first Wednesday of every month; and Windermere Library on the first Thursday of every month. For more details, call Jane Johnson on 01539-742627.

THE Royal National Lifeboat Institution is appealing for collectors to man buckets for its flag day collection in Kendal town centre on Saturday, May 22. The organisation sponsors lifeboats entirely by voluntary contributions and flag day collections are extremely important for the charity. If you can help for just an hour contact Jean at the North West Regional Office on 0161-7878779 or e-mail jean_raffaelli@rnli.org.uk CUMBRIA Alcohol and Drug Advisory Service (CADAS) is looking for people aged over 30 and living in South Lakeland or Barrow to train as volunteer counsellors to help other people who might experience problems with alcohol and drugs. The nationally-accredited training is free and takes place in south Cumbria from June. If you want to know more, ring Laura on 07764-898095 or 01539-742615.

THE recycling department of South Lakeland District Council is appealing for individuals or voluntary organisations running recycling schemes to get in touch following numerous inquiries from locals eager to do their bit. Anyone collecting items in aid of charity is invited to submit their details by calling 01539-717197.

AN EXTRA 44 hours of nursing care for terminally ill cancer patients can be provided in Cumbria and north Lancashire by Marie Curie Cancer Care after the charity's Kendal support group raised £663 during a street collection in the town on April 3. The event was held as part of the charity's annual Daffodil Campaign.

A GILBERT & Sullivan concert organised by the Cumbria Commandery of The Order of Saint Lazarus at St Mary's Parish Church, Kirkby Lonsdale, helped to raise £3,000 to help send a doctor or nurse to work in an overseas Leper Hospital where limb restoration is carried out.

n A FREE nursing service for terminally ill cancer patients who choose to die at home in Cumbria and north Lancashire has received a welcome boost of £578. The money was raised for Marie Curie Cancer Care during a street collection in Windermere on March 27. THE late Edith Gwendoline Bryant, who lived in Kendal, left in excess of £20,000 to the Cumbria Deaf Association, based in Carlisle. It was one of several bequests from her will to charities as well as to friends, relatives and carers.