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A Defra funded training project, designed to help Lancashire's rural women find work, has been praised by the Department for Work and Pensions in a new report.

Opportunity for All is an annual publication illustrating the many Government-led initiatives that exist across the country to tackle problems of poverty and social disadvantage.

This year's report, which is published on 17 October to coincide with International Poverty Day, will be launched at the End Child Poverty Conference in London by the DWP SoS (David Blunkett). It highlights, amongst other projects, the Defra-funded Lancashire Farm Women's Project run by Northern Rural Training as a great example of a scheme that deals effectively with rural exclusion.

The scheme began last year and offers a wide range of training opportunities to help rural women either find employment or gain the skills to set up their own business.

Courses are held at the Clitheroe-based centre and run by either Lantra registered trainers or tutors or specialists of other recognised bodies and professions, and cover everything from basic computer skills to website design, and first aid to food hygiene.

The project is funded by Defra's Vocational Training Scheme, administered in the North West by the Rural Development Service. It was proposed after a pilot scheme revealed a clear demand for training courses amongst the farming women's community. The Rural Development Service awarded Northern Rural Training £48,755 which covered 75% of the cost of devising and running the courses from March 2004 to June 2006.

As well as skills based training, women can take courses to improve their chances of finding work including driving lessons, image consultancy, writing CVs and interview techniques.

For those setting up their own businesses, accounting, business writing, marketing and Inland Revenue self-assessment are amongst the subjects on offer.

Jan Huddleston a farmer's daughter from the Trough of Bowland was instrumental in the preparation of the Farm Women's Programme, working with Northern Rural Training to develop the rural women's network in Lancashire.

However, arranging training and signposting others to the correct supportive agencies inspired Jan to re-assess her own options and develop the career she had always wanted in speech therapy.

After university she worked on the family farm for two years, before re-training as a teacher. During married life, however, she became an administrator for her husband's business. "I learnt office skills on the hoof. I didn't train so I lacked confidence in my abilities which I think women often experience," she says.

By the age of 40 Jan realised her own interests had lapsed and she felt unemployable, but her work with Northern Rural Training gave her a new self-assurance. "That was the turning point for me," she adds. "My co-workers and the job gave me confidence in my abilities. For example I realised when I was organising a conference, that it is overwhelming when looked at as a whole but possible if dealt with in manageable chunks."

Tish Newhouse is a farmer's wife from Sawley near Clitheroe. She and her husband Peter had been involved in training through Northern Rural Training and the Association of Rural Training Groups in Lancashire for a number of years.

In 2004 Tish made the decision to augment the farm's income and achieve a lifetime's ambition by setting up her own professional dog grooming studio, "Canine Perfection."

With ongoing support from the Defra funded programme, she took a grooming course with a leading Training Centre in the North of England. Being professionally trained means she has become a member of recognised associations such as the British Dog Groomers Association and the Pet Care Trust.

The new business needed accurate accounts and record keeping so Tish also undertook accounts training with a Lantra registered teacher - again through the Lancashire Farm Women's Project.

She has also booked to take a course later this year in Desk Top Publishing & Digital photography to help her with the promotion and marketing for her business.

Carolyn Rowe from Northern Rural Training says,

"We aim to help with every aspect of retraining from finding work and developing self confidence to practical skills like IT and book-keeping. We also do our best to be as flexible as possible, as two of the main obstacles for women attending training courses in rural areas are lack of transport and poor provision of childcare. We have had an excellent take up on a wide variety of courses, and many women who have undergone training have gone on to either find work or set up their own businesses."

Christine Cummins, an adviser with the Rural Development Service, says,

"This is a valuable project which helps rural women to receive training in a flexible, informal environment. The courses are tailored to the needs of the local community and provide good opportunities for women to find employment or begin new entrepreneurial ventures. This further benefits the region by encouraging diversification, helping to keep farms in business by providing extra income and also stimulating the rural economy by creating more small businesses."

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