HAPPY Birthday Endeavour! Endeavour is ten years old next week. It's a workers' co-operative that has survived splendidly when many others have long since gone to the wall.

But it's a workers- co-operative with a difference - most of the workers have learning disabilities. Some have mental health problems, some have physical difficulties.

But what makes them truly special is that they are a genuine team, producing some high quality wooden games and products, many of which are used by schools, libraries and playgroups in the region.

There's the book-case that looks like a train or Humpty Dumpty, giant noughts and crosses, a quoits game with wooden horseshoes and they seem to be specialising in magician's boxes.

The magicians' boxes (for keeping their tricks in and displaying their props, not, sadly, for sawing ladies in half) came like so much other work by recommendation and word of mouth.

"We don't advertise, but people have got to know about us and word seems

to have gone round the Magic Circle." says Liz Hill, one of the support workers.

"Either they've seen things that we've done, like the book cases or the teddy bear toy boxes, or they ask us to make something that's a bit out of the ordinary."

They included a partition for a children's area in a library, designed to look like a garden fence complete with flowers. Last time we sent a Northern Echo photographer to see them, he ordered a very minimalist clock. They've done farmyards, renovated a rocking horse and are in the middle of building a doll's house. But that is temporarily relegated to a top shelf while they get on with other orders.

Production is broken down into easily managed chunks where workers can gain expertise and demand high standards of themselves and the others. Anyone working more than 18 hours a week can become a full member with an equal say in the business and there are a number of part-timers.

"You can't just be here because you want something to do, you've got to really like working with wood," says Stevan, who's been there from the beginning.

Originally the workshop was based in Shildon and nine years ago, they moved to the old fire station in Ferryhill.

"We have more room here," says Linda, also one of the originals, who's

carefully varnishing the pegs for the horseshoe hoopla game and getting the boys to stop talking about football and get back to work.

But it's not just woodworking skills that that team have learnt. They go shopping, deal with money and the bank. They take stalls at craft fairs. They run meetings, complete with professional-looking agendas up on the board. They've got college credits in safety, computers, telephone skills. And, like any group of people who work together, they often socialise together too.

The workshop has broadened their lives, extended their skills and given the confidence that has spilled over into everything else they do.

When they started, no one was sure if they would last a year. Two years at most seemed an optimistic forecast.

Now they're celebrating ten years and, with continued hard work, look set for another ten at least - and probably a lot more Humpty Dumpty book cases and magicians' boxes.

* Endeavour Woodcrafts, The Old Fire Station, Darlington Road, Ferryhill. Tel: 01740 657676.