One of the drivers, Sue Terry, 43, who works for Philadelphia Taxis, said: "I think it's great that they've chosen Sunderland – it's about time we were on the map for something.

"Usually when you see someone on the TV from the North East it's someone from Newcastle, so it's good to see Wearside get some attention."

The ads are going out nationally to plug the Yellow Pages and its 118 24 7 service, with the promotion part of its People Behind The Numbers campaign.

They will be shown on Channel 4, E4, More4, Film4, online and Movie Rush, a 10-minute broadband programme which reviews new films at the cinema and recent DVD releases.

Mum-of-three Sue, from Hunter Street, Shiney Row, got her part in the adverts when the directory called her company to ask if anyone would volunteer to appear in them.

She said: "Somebody from the Yellow Pages rang up, saying: 'Do you think one of your drivers will come along?' and they thought of me straight away. Nobody else would have been willing to do it."

The 43-year-old is a bit nervous about being broadcast to the nation, but says she was pleased to take part and her family are looking forward to seeing her on the screen.

"I think they think it's great. It's going to be on nationwide, so everyone is going to see it, but I don't know how much I'll be on the final thing," she said.

"We were all in our taxis sat in a line and we had to say: 'We are the taxi drivers of Sunderland and we hope you enjoy the film.'

"Then they did us individually so they can pick us out if they want to.

"Then we had to say 'We were the taxi drivers of Sunderland, and we hope you enjoyed the show,' to go at the end of the film."

Another one of the stars is Terry Lowe from Tony's Taxis, who has been in the business for two years.

The 55-year-old father-of-five and grandfather-of-three from Grisedale Road, Peterlee, can be seen joking about his John Wayne impression as well as his love of films Dirty Dancing and Ghost.

Terry, who is married to Coreen, 49, said: "I'm thrilled to be appearing in the new Yellow Pages adverts.

"The day of filming was absolutely brilliant. It was lovely to meet some of the other taxi drivers in my area.

"It has been such a fantastic experience and I can't wait for the ads to be screened.

"My friends and family love sitting down in front of a good film so they're bound to see me sooner or later. I feel like a real film star!"

Others who appear in the advert, which was filmed on the roof a multi-storey car park in Sunderland, are Richard Bishop of Adamson Taxis in Houghton, Stephen Brown and Craig Britton of Presty's Taxis in Seaham, Joseph Foster of Caroline's Taxis, Hetton, Tony Wilkinson of Ford and Pallion Taxis and Rocket Taxis in Sunderland and Andrew Scott of Stanley Taxis, Stanley.

Helen Stevenson, chief marketing officer of Yell UK, said: "We're delighted to have been able to offer the taxi drivers from Sunderland this unique opportunity to participate in our sponsorship.

"I am sure that anyone watching the ads will agree that there is a wealth of amazing personalities and characters among our advertisers, and they truly embody the enterprising nature of businesses across the UK."

Most everyone belongs to some kind of a club or group. Perhaps it is a civic group, or a service club, or a church group, or even a family group. How often have you attended a "meeting" of your group, and not spent any time getting to know the people in the group? Too often groups are only concerned with agendas, reports, useless chitchat and weather reports, or getting business done. Life is too short to miss the opportunities to get to know people better and foster meaningful relationships.

People love to talk about themselves, their interests, their families and their life experiences. And, if you listen carefully, you can learn a lot about them as they share these things. The problem is that unless they are asked, they probably won't tell. Then there is the additional issue of limited time in most club or group meetings. Good news... it can be done, if done briefly and regularly.

One president of a Kiwanis club (a community service club) uses a very effective exercise in the beginning of the clubs meeting. To officially start the meeting, the members are asked to all stand, do the pledge to the flag, have a brief prayer (some clubs follow with a song), then sit down and proceed with the meeting. But, before letting the members sit down, this leader had them ask one or two people a specific question, or had them tell someone a certain something about themselves. And, low and behold, the members started learning things about one another... and relationships started developing.

So, here are some suggestions for the types of directives and questions to use.

Things related to certain times and seasons:

What was your most memorable Christmas?
What was your most embarrassing birthday surprise?
What is your favorite part of Thanksgiving?
Where were you on 9/11?
Tell someone your favorite summer vacation.
Tell someone about the hottest day you remember - where you were and the temperature.
Tell some one your favorite time of year, and why.

Things related to people and places:

What is your favorite color, and why?
What is your favorite food?
Who are you most like... your mom or dad?
Where did you meet your spouse?
Who is your "hero" and why?
If you could be someone from the past, who and why?
Tell the funniest statement you've heard from a child (maybe it was you).
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
If you could "fix" or change one thing in the world today, what would it be?
Tell someone your middle name, and why it was given to you.
Tell the funniest joke (keep it clean) you can think of.

Using these to get you thinking, and a little creativity, you can come up with many more. Think about the things you would like to know about those with whom you associate. Think about what you would like to tell others, if they would only listen... then start asking and telling.