Pictures of England
Yorkshire-born artist Lydia Bauman, whose work is displayed all over the world, has produced a new body of work examining the landscape of Northumberland, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the Midlands. Alone in the landscape - landscapes of England examines the individual qualities of landscape around large urban areas using large mixed media panels, smaller studies and mixed media works on paper. The exhibition in the University gallery runs until November 4. For more information contact the gallery on 0113 343 2777 or see the website www.lydiabauman.com/

Safety and survival
Winter walkers and cold-weather climbers are invited to a British mountaineering council presentation on ‘winter essentials’ at 6.45pm on November 15. The talk covers the skills needed to operate safely and enjoyably in a winter environment, including equipment and clothing, navigation, footwork, planning, and avalanche awareness, plus a host of tales from which you can glean valuable advice. For more information contact Will Patterson on 0113 343 5082.

Community spirit
Staff with the enthusiasm and vision to help their community are invited to apply for funding to launch new volunteering projects. Leeds University community initiative offers £500 grants to improve community relations in Leeds or Wakefield and benefit deprived communities. Previous successful initiatives include youth music project Street vibes, and Hyde Park public safety event Lounging on red couches.

A separate scheme - Jump start - runs in partnership with Leeds Cares. Grants of up to £1,000 are available for projects benefiting the communities of East Leeds. For more information contact Alexis Ragaliauskas on 0113 343 3755.

For more on community and campus projects see www.leeds.ac.uk/city/projects.htm

Take five from Kew
Kew gardens director Sir Peter Crane will select five organisms to illustrate biodiversity in an open lecture on November 16. Sir Peter’s five-year tenure at the Royal Botanic Gardens has included initiating the millennium seed bank, fostering plant conservation in over 20 countries, and reality TV fame in A year at Kew. His research integrates studies of living and fossil plants to understand large-scale patterns and processes of plant evolution

Wild and wonderful is at 2pm in conference auditorium 1 - all welcome. For more information email j.e.smith@leeds.ac.uk

Going the distance
All staff are invited to discover more about distance learning in a lunchtime event on November 15. Distance education revisited: lessons learned by those providing distance learning courses at 12 noon in the Edward Boyle library conference room will discuss the development of materials, support and resource access for students. For more information contact lduevents@leeds.ac.uk or see the events website

Passionate performance
One of the great masterpieces of western music will be performed in the Great Hall on Sunday 20 November at 2.30pm. The school of music chorus with Leeds baroque choir and orchestra will perform Bach’s St Matthew Passion - a rare chance to hear the original version of 1725 complete and in German.

The concert is supported by Mrs Joan Gardiner in memory of music graduate Karen Jane Willett who died of breast cancer in May last year. Tickets are £12/£10, £3 student stand-by on the door. For more information contact Jillian Johnson on 0113 343 2584 or email concerts@leeds.ac.uk

Meeting of minds
The role of local and global languages in African communities will be discussed at the first meeting of the languages in Africa interest group, hosted by the University’s centre for African studies (LUCAS) on November 4-5. Overseas development minister Hilary Benn will launch the programme with a talk on The UK government and challenges for development in Africa on November 4 in the Rupert Beckett lecture theatre at 5.15pm.

For more information on the Leeds University centre for African studies see www.leeds.ac.uk/lucas/

Net gains
More players are needed for the staff badminton club, which has enjoyed a successful season with two teams winning their leagues, and the others finishing second and third respectively. All staff and postgraduates are invited to join the club, which plays twice a week at the sports centre.

Join the register - and offer someone a life
Staff and students are being urged to join the 12 million people who have signed up to the NHS organ donor register.

At any one time, almost 8,000 people are in desperate need of an organ transplant. Around 400 will die this year and many more will lose their lives before they are registered for a transplant. Joining the register enables you to offer the gift of life - and help someone to live after your death.

The more people join, the more lives can be saved. And it is especially important that more black and South Asian people register, since these ethnic groups are statistically more likely to need a transplant. Patients stand a better chance of survival if they receive organs from someone of their own ethnic group.

You can find out more about the register at www.uktransplant.org.uk and register online or by calling 0845 60 60 400.

City’s festival of peace and understanding
Greater understanding between the city’s many faiths and communities is the aim of the Leeds ‘Together for Peace’ festival from November 5 to 17.

The biennial festival is backed by over 100 organisations including churches, mosques, synagogues, community groups, businesses and the university. Events include exhibitions, vigils, films, drama and musical performances, all with a theme of close understanding.

Students from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Polytechnic University will be at the festival as part of an exchange with ten Leeds students who recently returned from Israel and Palestine.

All donations to help fund the exchange, or offers of assistance - for example by providing minibuses - would be gratefully received. For more information contact James Johnston on jamesj9@hotmail.com. For a full programme of festival events visit www.togetherforpeace.co.uk