STEPPING up their successful programme of helping disabled people into work.

That's Bury Employment Support and Training (EST) which has successfully bid for the right to deliver a Workstep contract on behalf of Jobcentre Plus.

The Workstep programme will be run across Greater Manchester and involves a consortium of local authorities, including Bury, Stockport, Wigan and Oldham as well as a voluntary sector organisation from Chester. The contract runs until April 2004 but it is expected to be extended.

The team has already signed up five people to the programme, one of the Government's initiatives to encourage disabled people to start or return to work. It is expected that the contract will support a further 25 people with a range of disabilities to become employed in Bury.

Bury EST expect to employ an additional three staff to support the contract. Manager, Huw Davies said: "This is excellent news for us. We have been looking for sustainable funding so that we can plan for the future and this is a great start.

"Workstep has been completely modernised and now offers funding for the sort of support we've been offering clients for years. I think it's a vote of confidence in what we've been doing and the way we operate."

Anyone interested in further details of the scheme can contact Huw on 253 6588 or through www.buryest.org.uk