AFTER the hammer blow of job losses at Norwich Union, now at last comes some good news. York is to receive £600,000 of new funding to help people who have been made redundant or who are seeking their first job to find work.

Half the money is coming from Yorkshire Forward, the other half from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

It is being funnelled through Higher York, the organisation which represents the city’s colleges and universities.

Higher York director Jessica Grant said the cash would be used to help people who had been made redundant, or recent graduates struggling to find work in the recession.

The help available would include “advice on CV writing or understanding the job market and even advice on starting your own business”, she said.

Businesses would also benefit, Mrs Grant said, with managers being offered consultancy and training on everything from redundancy to identifying new markets.

The region has already been fighting back against the recession through measures such as regional tourism bosses’ £30 million new advertising campaign promoting Yorkshire.

It is hoped that could generate up to £300 million extra tourism income a year for the county.

But this latest money, if wisely used, could really hit the spot – directly helping those who have suffered the most because of the recession.

Sir Alan Langlands, head of HEFCE, which awarded some of the money, said the aim was for new opportunities and courses to be up and running almost immediately.

This offers real hope to those who have been worst hit buy the economic situation.

We look forward to seeing concrete results, in the form of real people being helped back into real work.

LABOUR councillor Paul Blanchard is well known for his anti-religious views. But there is a time and a place to express them. And it is not during the search for a vulnerable young York woman who has disappeared.

Hearing that prayers were being said for missing York chef Claudia Lawrence, Coun Blanchard decided to launch an attack on religion on his Facebook page.

“Like praying is going to achieve anything,” he wrote. “Of all the pointless things to do.”

At a time when the whole city’s thoughts were focussed on Claudia and her family, this was a crass and totally inappropriate thing to say. It is all the worse because Coun Blanchard represents Heworth ward, where Claudia lives.

The errant councillor is now being investigated by his own party. “He brings us all into disrepute,” said fellow Heworth councillor Ruth Potter. At least he has had the grace and good sense to apologise unreservedly to the Lawrence family.

It is the very least he can do.