Students from the Architectural Association in 1921 forming an alternative guard of honour in smocks with T-squares and mops for the Prince of Wales, in Bedford Square, London. The occasion was the opening of the headquarters of the Chamber of Horticulture in Bedford Square.

The Architectural Association was founded in 1847 to provide a formal independent education for trainee architects at a time when the only route was via an apprenticeship. By 1891 a four-year evening course had been created after the Royal Institute of British Architects introduced a compulsory examination for associate members. At the same time the AA became strongly influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement. The association's teaching system adopted classicism at the turn of the century and the Beaux-Arts system in 1913, where students worked on a set of drawings for one scheme all term and then exhibited them for assessment. In 1920, the school began accepting female students and in the 1930s it took a major step in adopting Modernism; the evening school was replaced with a five-year full-time course.

The AA has remained independent of the state system and values it freedom; in recent years it has developed and increased its lecture series, exhibitions and publications programmes. Its 350 full-time students are taught through a series of autonomous units which allow differences in teaching styles. Recently, the AA has found that fewer British students have been able to afford the fees, which are not subsidised by government grants, and it is now urgently appealing for funds to provide bursaries for these students.

For further information, contact: Sarah Matheson, Architectural Association Foundation, 34-36 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3ES, telephone 071-636 0974.

The Turville School Trust wishes to buy the redundant school in Turville, a village in Buckinghamshire, from the Church of England to provide facilities for three sets of needs: residential use as a small summer holiday base for underprivileged children; a field-studies centre for local primary school children and a community centre for the village. The present village hall is three miles away from the village and inhabitants with no means of transport find it difficult to reach. Turville, which is part of a large parish, is in the heart of the Chiltern Hills; the hill behind the village is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and is noted for its chalk grassland wild flowers. So far the Trust has raised pounds 20,000 towards its pounds 150,000 target which must be met within the next two years.

The Turville School Trust, Telfer's Cottage, Turville, Henley-on-Thames RG9 6QL, telephone 0491 638396.

Artsline provides up-to-date information about access for disabled people at all London arts venues and also promotes arts by disabled people in its magazine Disability Arts in London. Artsline maintains that the arts are not widely available for people with disabilities as many venues are inaccessible: door widths, lavatories, the height of counters and other facilities are frequently set up with no consideration for people in wheelchairs or with sight, hearing or other disabilities. Artsline seeks to redress this by lobbying MPs, fire officers, planners, architects and licensing authorities.

Artsline, 5 Crowndale Road, London NW1 1TU, telephone 071-388 2227.