EAST Lancashire colleges are to join forces with the emergency services in a bid to encourage more women or ethnic minority recruits.

A course which aims to help develop skills required by the Army, police and fire brigade, as well as supporting students in applying for a uniformed career, is already on offer at Blackburn and Burnley colleges.

But following a meeting at Blackburn's Bank Top Access Centre last week, the course will also be offered at Nelson and Colne College.

The meeting was set up as Lancashire Constabulary and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service announced they were actively looking for women and black and Asian recruits. The Armed Forces have also set targets for recruiting people from similar groups.

John Entwistle, who developed the course at Lancaster and Morecambe College before it was offered to students in Blackburn and Burnley, said: "The course develops the skills and supports them in the first hurdle of applying for such a career. No preferential treatment is provided and course members have to pass the same tests as any other applicant, but an insight is given to the requirements of the services, as well as guidance to make them a better applicant.

"The access course is a vehicle to achieve the aims of the services and should provide a link for women and ethnic minority communities to them.

"Obviously we do not expect to solve all the problems, but it is a step towards the objective of getting representative workforces."

The courses have the support of Lancashire's Racial Equality Councils and Blackburn's Ethnic Minority Young Persons Forum. Anyone interested in the course can contact John on 01524 66215 ext 360.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.