EXHIBITION Medicine Man (Pictured above). Sir Henry Wellcome was an enthusiastic traveller and collector – amassing well over a million books, paintings and objects from around the world. Most of his collecting was in the two areas that fascinated him the most – health and medicine. Medicine Man is a free permanent display of a small part of that collection. The exhibition features Napoleon’s toothbrush, Nelson’s razor, Charles Darwin’s walking stick, Florence Nightingale’s moccasins and even some of King George III’s hair. Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, NW1. 020 7611 2222. Free. Bank holiday opening hours, Sat, Sun and Mon 10am-6pm. Otherwise the gallery is closed on Mondays, and usual times are Tues-Sun 10am-6pm, except Thurs when its 10am-9pm. Pictured: Vanitas are works of art intended to remind us of the transience of life and the certainty of death. This wax and cloth example – modelled on Queen Elizabeth I – shows symbols of mortality, including a skull and insects eating decaying flesh.

FRIDAY 23

DANCE Ballroom and Latin dance classes. Luther Tyndale Church Hall, Leighton Crescent, NW5. 020 7821 0874 or 020 8452 1853. Weekly. Improvers 6pm-7pm. Beginners 7.15-8.15pm.

DISCOVER Manga Symposium. Scholars, artists and industry affiliated members from Japan discuss definitions, reach and impact of manga in a global context. Knowledge Centre, The British Library, 96 Euston Road, NW1. 01937 546 546. £15/£8. 10am-5.30pm.

WELLBEING Theatre Workshop. Improve confidence, health and wellbeing. For adults. Clarence Hall, Hawley Road, NW1. 07985 590 835. £10. 7pm-8.30pm.

SATURDAY 24

CHESS Class for children. Beginners and intermediate classes for six- to 12-year-olds. Keats Community Library, Keats Grove, NW3. 020 7431 1266. £5 per child per session. No booking. 2.30-3.30pm.

TALK Dr Hugo Caffaratti. Join engineer, neuroscientist and magician Dr Hugo Caffaratti to discover what the concepts and methods of the art of magic can tell us about our brains. Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, NW1. 020 7611 2222. Free. There are two 20-minute talks starting at 11.30am and 12.30pm.

SUNDAY 25

POETRY An evening of readings. Poets from the floor welcome. Torriano Meeting House, 99 Torriano Avenue, NW5. 020 7267 2751. £5/£4. 7.30pm.

MONDAY 26

SPORT Free all-age multi-sports sessions, including football, rugby, dodgeball and rounders. Castlehaven Community Association, Castlehaven Road, NW1. 020 7485 3386. 4pm-6pm.

TUESDAY 27

ART Develop your drawing and visual skills with artist Jeff Sawtell (RCA). All materials will be provided. Queen’s Crescent Community Association, 45 Ashdown Crescent, NW5. £2. For further info contact Mary Pierce by calling 020 7267 6635 or emailing mary@qcca.org.uk. 11.30am-1pm. BIRDS Hampstead Heath walk with Marylebone Birdwatching Society. Bring binoculars. Meet at the Parliament Hill Staff Yard, NW5 at 10am. Walk ends at Kenwood at midday. Occasional visitors welcome. Free. Call 020 7267 8434 for further details.

WALK Industrious Islington: Boxes, Babies, Beans and Bras. Enjoy a wander through the backstreets of Islington and follow a trail of ghost signs above and around the Regent’s Canal. £12/£9. Visit www.janeslondonwalks.com for further details and meeting point. Walk starts at 6.30pm and is expected to last 90 minutes.

WEDNESDAY 28

GARDENING Gardeners’ Question Time. A celebrated panel of gardening experts tackle questions put to them by local gardening enthusiasts. Knowledge Centre, The British Library, 96 Euston Road, NW1. 01937 546 546. £4.50. 5.30pm-8.30pm.

THURSDAY 29

MUSIC Raised Voices Choir. Political street choir welcomes new members. Doreen Bazell Community Centre, Chenies Place (off Pancras Road), NW1. Free sessions available. Visit www.raised-voices.org.uk for further details. 7.30pm-9.30pm.

TALK Mudlarking. Enjoy an evening of adventure with Lara Maiklem, who has has scoured the banks of the Thames for over 15 years in pursuit of the objects that the river unearths, including Neolithic flints, Roman hair pins, medieval buckles, Tudor buttons, and Victorian toys. Daunt Books Hampstead, 51 South End Road, NW3. 020 7794 8206. £5. 6.30pm.

TALK Meet the Author. On a rare visit to Britain Thomas Keneally, author of the Booker Prize-winning Schindler’s Ark, talks about his new work The Book Of Science & Antiquities, a bold, millennia-spanning novel about what it means to be human. Knowledge Centre, The British Library, 96 Euston Road, NW1. 01937 546 546. £15/£10. 7pm-8.30pm.

TALK The Man Who Saw Everything. Author Deborah Levy discusses her latest novel The Man Who Saw Everything. London Review Bookshop, 14 Bury Place, WC1. 020 7269 9030. £10. 7pm.

ONGOING EXHIBITION A Child of Books. Join a young boy on his journey into the world of make believe with a display of 19 prints from A Child of Books, the exciting collaboration between artist and children’s author Oliver Jeffers and visual artist Sam Winston. Second Floor Gallery, The British Library, 96 Euston Road, NW1. 01937 546 546. Free entry. Gallery open Mon-Fri 9.30am-6pm (except Tuesdays when its open 9.30am-8pm), Sat 9.30am-5pm and Sun 11am-5pm. Runs until October 27.