The big headlines from North Ayrshire in January 2009

Who can you spot in these pics?

Playtime Nursery in Dalry kicked off 2009 by holding a Recycling Action Week where the children and their parents could offload their used Christmas cards, paper, batteries and ink cartridges.

Kilbirnie and Glengarnock Age Concern enjoyed a wonderful festive lunch at the Seamill Hydro Hotel at the end of 2008.

Pupils at Dykesmains Primary School donned their best dresses and shirts for their 2008 Christmas party.

Five pupils from Ardrossan Academy competed in the Ayrshire Swimming Championships in early 2009 with great success. Heather McClymont, Jordan Hughes and Kerry Andrew came out top after taking first place in their swimming categories. Mhairi Gilmour and Daniel Lee also did extremely well, although they did not come in the top three.

Former First minister Jack McConnell MSP visited St Matthew’s Academy in Saltcoats on 2009 and left deeply impressed at the ongoing commitment there to helping the school’s counterparts in Malawi. He said: “I was absolutely delighted to meet the young people. They and their teachers are really strongly committed to the whole Malawi link and they’re doing a great job.,”

Glamour was the order of the day at the 2009 St Matthew’s fashion show and a celebrity guest even popped in. Pupils worked extremely hard alongside Modern Languages teacher Miss Liddle to organise the event and they invited Kilwinning's Mikey Hughes, star of Big Brother, above, to join them.