I’m giving a talk in Durham(15mins on the train?) on the 13th November which will explain what OpenStreetMap is about and maybe some interesting stories about mapping.
This will hopefully get people interested in OSM and then I’ll get a bunch of us Durhamites(or just southerners/students) coming to help you map Newcastle.
Details here: http://www.livingwithdragons.com/2007/10/events
Your all welcome to come down and support me or listen to the talk, it could be interesting even for existing OSMers.