THREE Preston employees have been short-listed for a special award.

The National training Awards give just a handful of prizes to individuals and companies across the country, and this year four of the finalists are from the Preston area.

They have been recognised for their work in either setting up training programmes for staff, or changing their own lives by going through training themselves.

Nirmal Singh, a social services worker, was chosen for 're-inventing' himself after arriving in England in 1978 from India when he found his qualifications were redundant.

Mr Singh, 51, who works as a policy officer for Lancashire County Council Social Services, said: "I'm very pleased as it's an assessment of my work as a trainer. My masters degree was in agricultural entomology, so I had to re-train myself."

Mr Singh was a founding father of the Guru Nanak recreational centre, Clarendon Street, Preston, and the Preston Sikh Cultural Association.

"Almost all major agencies in the area would have received my training," he admitted.

Joining Mr Singh at the prestigious awards ceremony at Manchester Town Hall on November 12 will be Sheela Solanki, director of the management committee of Preston's Women's Refuge.

Preston resident Mrs Solanki came to the UK from India aged 16, hoping to study nursing, but ended up working in a factory. After learning IT, counselling and presentation skills, she now works for Blackpool Borough Council as a mediation assistant and is a director of Preston's Women's Refuge.

Angela Hammond, from Penwortham, an occupational health and welfare manager at Preston College, has been short-listed for 'her commitment to training and education'.

Our Lady and St Gerard's Primary School, Lourdes Avenue, Lostock Hall, has also been short-listed after hiring two staff members to be deputy head in a groundreaking scheme.