AN employment project is celebrating success after two years in business.

Led by Tees Valley Housing Group, the scheme was launched to open up cultural employment opportunities in the region's housing sector.

The project, Open House, also aims to tackle discrimination and inequality in the labour market.

In its first year, 49 people attended awareness days, with 40 applicants competing for 22 positions.

Employment was offered to 25 people for 50 weeks, with training and progression opportunities. The second year saw 103 applicants, with 42 interviewees being interviewed for 22 training places.

Yasmin Khan, project manager, said: "Very early on, we established that the BME (black minority ethnic) communities in the Tees Valley were under-represented in the housing sector workforce, with less than a third of the regional three per cent representation. By working with nine key housing providers across the region, the representation now mirrors and, in some cases, exceeds the region's population profile.

"As well as the impressive employment figures, we have worked with supply chains to promote race equality and diversity."