IT may have been cold and windy outside, but a series of indoor events brightened up the weekend for many.

At the Guildhall in Worcester High Street there were two events taking place – a craft fair and an open day for city charity Deaf Direct.

The charity, based in Sansome Walk, was holding the event on Saturday to show people what volunteers do and how they can help deaf or hard of hearing residents.

Philip Gerrard, chief executive, said: “It has been a fantastic day with a lot of people coming in. Today is about awareness, so that people can find out about the difficulties that deaf people have and how they can assist deaf people. But also for people with hearing difficulties – they aren’t always aware of some information that can help them.”

There are 76,000 people in Worcestershire who are hard of hearing or deaf.

Mr Gerrard said it was the first event the charity had held and it had been a great success. “We have attracted a lot of people here, and it has helped that the craft fair is here too,” he said.

The Craft in Action fair was filled with beautiful items created by Worcestershire artists, including toys, pressed flowers, waistcoats and watercolour paintings.

Organiser and artist Rowena Davis said there had been a steady flow of visitors throughout the day.

“Everything is handmade and we all pride ourselves in the quality of our goods,” she said. “We have five or six of these fairs throughout the year in Worcester, and the next one is being held on Saturday, December 12.”

Across town, a unique project helped shed some light on the history of a Worcester housing estate.

The West Side Story community project has revealed just how much the Dines Green area has changed over the centuries, from pastoral farmland to bustling housing development. Fifty local people were involved in the five-week scheme that culminated on Saturday with a showcase at the Green Centre in Dines Green.

Participants, who were all members of the centre’s Kids Club, Live at Home and CONNECT support group, used documents from as far back as 1667 and worked with Victoria Westaway of Expressive Arts to create canvases that depicted the area’s history.

The scheme was a Worcester Archive Source project, part of the county records office, which has already delivered history projects in St John’s and in old St Andrew’s parish. Elizabeth Roper from the scheme said: “It was a lovely day and we had a wonderful celebration of this Heritage Lottery-funded project.”