THE Government has made much of its New Deal for Lone Parents, and getting single parents out to work. I am a single mum, with two small children, who wants to work.

As part of the New Deal, I attended Bury College on a year-long E-Business Technology course, taking my final exams last year, just days after giving birth to my second child. Since then I have applied for numerous jobs in the clerical/receptionist line, without success.

The lone parent adviser at Bury Job Centre thought that this was due to the fact that, although I have the necessary qualifications, I don't have the experience. I then applied for an on-the-job training scheme at Bury Town Hall which gives people like me the opportunity to gain experience by working in an office environment for six months. Yet, despite my qualifications, I wasn't offered a place on the training scheme.

Where do I go from here? Have I wasted two years of my life trying to better myself? Without experience I can't get a job; without a job I can't get experience. So much for the New Deal!

L. VICKERS,

Coniston Avenue, Whitefield.