A PROJECT in York is helping young people with complex educational and health needs.

Minster Provision is a partnership between Applefields School, Askham Bryan College and City of York Council, and launched last year at the college's Dentdale Centre.

Seven young people, aged between 19 and 25, work with support staff from Applefields, to experience the college campus while working in areas including the horticulture department's tropical house and equine department, and the college farm, wildlife and conservation park, in what the council believes is the first partnership of its kind in the UK.

Ben is 19 and has severe autism. He was one of the first students to be accepted as part of the scheme, having started school at Applefields before his mother Karen signed him up.

Karen said: "It seems that every time he has another session, he gains a new skill. The difference in him is incredible.

"One of the things he struggles with is coping with noise, it makes him anxious. It’s a busy campus with lots of different machinery, lots of people, animals and activities, but he has settled in really well and is really enjoying being part of the college community. It’s as though he’s always been there."

Ben is working towards a nationally recognised qualification, and his time at Askham Bryan includes experience in the Animal Management Centre and in the Wildlife & Conservation Park, working with reptiles, amphibians and fish.

Karen said: "Ben has developed so much in the relatively short time he’s been at Askham Bryan. I can’t speak too highly of the staff who are so supportive and caring.

"With every opportunity presented to him, Ben is learning and developing strategies to manage his own behaviour and regulate his anxiety. I cannot emphasise strongly enough how important this is. Otherwise it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to take him out to public places, be part of the community and live a fulfilling life. He would be spending most of his time at home, isolated except for family, and his mental health would suffer from lack of stimulation."

Cllr Keith Myers, Executive member for children, education and young people, said the Minster Provision "provides a much needed transitional stage for young people leaving special school and moving into adulthood", and Cllr Andrew Waller, deputy leader and Executive member for the environment, said the scheme "shows just what can be achieved when partners across the city work together".

Adam Booker, head of Applefields, said: "The young people in the pilot have incredibly complex learning and health needs and would previously have had to go outside the York area to receive the type of support provided by the new Minster Provision.

"The staff and students have been made to feel incredibly welcome by Askham Bryan College and the wealth and breadth of experience that our young people can get by being part of a mainstream land-based college will help them to gain vital life-skills, broadening their horizons and helping them transition into adulthood."

Catherine Dixon, chief executive of Askham Bryan College, said: "This is a fantastic new initiative and one that the college is very proud to have been instrumental in establishing.

"Inclusivity is fundamental to the Askham Bryan ethos. Not only does it provide amazing life and educational opportunities for the Minster Provision students, but it also enables them to study with the Askham Bryan students and access a wide range of facilities which will help them to develop skills for life."