A MAJOR appeal to help transform the lives of people with learning difficulties was launched this week.

Northallerton charity Chopsticks is hoping to raise £850,000 to build a new workshop on the outskirts of the town. The appeal was launched at a presentation in the Golden Lion Hotel, Northallerton, on Tuesday.

The group, based in Springwell Lane, provides work for people with learning difficulties. Its workshop produces firewood and repairs wooden pallets and has grown from a lean-to shed at the town's Mencap centre to a business catering for 35 adults with learning difficulties.

Trainees are also contracted by North Yorkshire County Council's social services to provide a gardening service for the elderly. But the centre is working at full output and there is a waiting list of people desperate for a place.

Chopsticks chairman Keith Helsby said: "Larger premises would open the door to other recycling processes, such as wood chips for gardening and for sporting use such as all-weather gallops.

"But the major thing is to improve the working facilities for our members. We want them to have a proper rest room and a proper medical room. That would improve the ambience of the place tremendously from their point of view."

The D&S Times is backing the charity and there will be regular updates on the progress of the appeal. See next week's edition for a full feature on Chopsticks.