Some of the brightest young classical musicians in the Midlands will be performing in West Malvern next week -- and local residents will be able to hear them free of charge.

Chandos Young Musician of the Year competition will be held in the Anstruther Theatre, Westminster Bank on Saturday, January 28.

The contest is staged annually by the Malvern-based Chandos Symphony Orchestra, which draws top-class amateur musicians from all over the region to take part in three concerts a year at the Forum Theatre.

The young competitors must be under 21 and come from within 50 miles of Malvern. This year's contestants include violinist Hannah Roper, who is just ten-years-old! She will play for the judges at 11.30am.

Others (playing times in brackets) will be: Gareth Ceredig (percussion, 10.15am); Christina McMaster (piano, 11.15am); Clare Graves (flute, 11.45am); Alisa Lubarskaya (cello, 12.15pm); Toby Hughes (double bass, 12.30pm); Ben Westlake (clarinet, 12.45pm); Simon Bromley (trumpet, 2pm) Edgar Bailey (violin, 2.15pm) and Yi-Shan (Eva) Hsieh (marimba, 2.30pm).

Names of the finalists will be announced at 3.30pm and their performances will take place between approximately 4pm and 6pm.

A cello recital by Jessica Hayes will follow until 7pm, when the competition results will be announced. Anyone interested will be welcome to join the audience and encourage the young performers. It will be possible to call in for short visits, but obviously there will be no admittance during performances.

West Malvern's Leapfrogs pre-school group is looking for an assistant leader. The small, friendly group is open five mornings a week and is currently held at the Royal British Legion in Lower Road. For more details about the post or if you have children you would like to attend the playgroup, call Jane Godfrey on 01684 893414

Excitement is growing at the prospect of the group moving into its own purpose-built premises by Easter. The Leapfrogs will enjoy their own suite of rooms, including kitchenette, toilets and secure storage, as well as play areas. These will be in the basement of Raglan House, Westminster Bank, where work on the reconstruction of the former Victorian lodging house by local composer/entrepreneur Paul Farrer is approaching its final stages. The main part of the building will provide office and studio accommodation for locally-based media-related businesses.

An audience of more than 40 who turned out for the Garden and Nature Club's meeting on Tuesday were treated to a fascinating talk by local resident Johnny Birks.

He described the work of the Eastnor-based Vincent Wildlife Trust, which works for the conservation of rare and threatened native mammals throughout the UK, managing more than 50 nature reserves, many of them buildings used as bat roosts. Other mammals the trust is concerned with include otters, polecats, pine martens and water voles.

The audience listened attentively for more than an hour, learning of the methods used by the trust, which is nationally recognised for its authoritative surveys, and of the distribution locally of various kinds of bat, including an important colony of the little-known Barbastelle.

As part of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, there will be an ecumenical service at St James's Church on Monday at 7.45pm. Members of many churches and fellowships in West Malvern and friends from elsewhere are warmly invited. The service will be followed by light refreshments. For more information, contact The Rev. Rosemary Herbert on 572497.