Bath Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling (BCPC) is holding an open day for prospective students on Sun 21 Mar. Founded in 1984, BCPC trains and supports professional counselling and psychotherapy therapists, integrating humanistic and psychoanalytic approaches with a view to qualifications accredited by the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy, the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy and Middlesex University.

If you’re interested, please call the office to register and to choose between the morning (10.30am- 1pm) and afternoon (2.30-5pm) sessions. Both sessions will include presentations on the various training programmes available, and allow for informal discussions with tutors, current students and graduates. Ffi: 01225 429 720 or www.bcpc.org.uk).

Important date in the diary for the region’s 12,000 Year 12 students: UCAS’s Bristol Higher education Convention, hosted by UWE on Thur 18-Fri 19 Mar.  Over 130 universities from all over the UK will attend, along with careers advisors and gap year organisations, and students will be encouraged to attend free seminars on course choice, student life, gap years, finance and Oxbridge entrance. Ffi: www. ucas.ac.uk or www.uwe.ac.uk/hsv/hospitality/conference/exhibition.shtml

Young hearts run free! Born to run! Yes, it’s time to get those running playlists synched as the countdown begins to the 2010 Bristol Half Marathon, which takes place this year on Sun 5 Sept. By the time you read this, online entries will have been open for a few days, with postal entries due to open on Mon 8 Mar. Runners affiliated to a UKA running club will pay £29, unaffiliated runners £31, and this year’s official charities are CLIC Sargent, St Peter’s Hospice and COCO. Ffi: www.bristolhalfmarathon. com

Musicians! Fancy honing your jazz skills under the wing of some of the genre’s leading contemporary stars? Best sign up pronto for the Colston Hall’s new season of masterclasses, where expert tuition and advice is on offer from none other than Israeli-born jazz saxophonist Gilad Atzmon, Mercury Music  Prizenominated hard bop saxophonist Denys Baptiste and award-winning trumpeter and New Orleans native Abram Wilson. Open to intermediate and advanced level musicians, the masterclasses cost £15 adults/£10 students (limited bursaries for under-18s). Choose from Sat 6 Mar (Abram Wilson), Fri 19 Mar (Sarah Gillespie and Gilad Atzmon) and Fri 23 Apr (Denys Baptiste). Tickets from 0117 922 3686 or www.colstonhall.org