Plymouth's Diving Diseases Research Centre celebrates its 25th anniversary this year with a series of events, including an underwater photographic competition, film lecture, and fundraising John O’Groats to Lands End cycle ride.

Things kick off with the Underwater Diving Competition, run over two weeks from 9 to 24 April. With the support of Looe Divers, who are making boats available, divers are invited to choose sites and subjects anywhere between Plymouth's Rame Head and Fowey in Cornwall - a stretch which includes the new artificial reef HMS Scylla.

Photo categories are flora and fauna, wrecks, reefs, humour and artistic interpretation. The overall winner will be invited to the charity's Silver Jubilee Dinner at Plymouth's Royal Marine Barracks on 30 June.

The DDRC was founded in 1980 as a privately run hyperbaric treatment and diving physiology research centre. Given charitable status, it was based at Plymouth's Fort Bovisand before moving a few years ago to a purpose-built facility next to Plymouth's NHS Trust hospital at Derriford.

There it treats bent divers, along with patients suffering other medical conditions, and continues a strong tradition of research in diving and general hyperbaric medicine. A DDRC researcher won the 2004 BSAC Jubilee Trust's Duke of Edinburgh Prize for research into the effects of pressure on thinking and awareness, using chamber simulation dives.

The DDRC also runs courses in diving treatments, including emergency oxygen and first aid provision, and hyperbaric awareness courses for sport and commercial divers. DDRC - 01752 209999, www.ddrc.org

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