AN INNOVATIVE scheme aimed at providing key training and employment skills for people in the Easingwold area with learning disabilities or autism has won a £48,500 boost.

North Yorkshire County Council has agreed to provide the money over two years to the Adsetts Partnership to help pay for “Unit Three”, an employment initiative specifically designed to help people facing significant barriers to finding work.

The scheme is intended to provide supported employment opportunities for up to 26 people.

Coun Clare Wood, executive member for adult social care, said Unit Three would provide vital employment opportunities based on the philosophy that everyone, no matter what barriers they faced, had a contribution to make and should have the opportunity to enjoy meaningful, creative activity.

“This is a marvellous example of how collaboration between the county council and the voluntary sector is producing imaginative and innovative ways of making a real difference to people’s lives,” she added.

Unit Three will feature a number of different activities, in particular a bespoke letterpress print service providing wedding stationery.

A spokesman said research showed that bespoke letterpress-produced wedding stationery was a niche market with high profit margins, and the labour-intensive production process was well suited to the needs and abilities of people who might otherwise have difficulty finding work.

The grant for the scheme comes from the council’s Innovations Fund, which is allocating £1.6m over three years to voluntary organisations to change the way adult social care is delivered. Twelve organisations are benefitting from grants in this, the second round of allocations.

Coun Wood said the authority had been really impressed by the huge response from voluntary organisations and local groups, which had developed some excellent proposals to reach individuals and communities where the need is greatest.