A WOMAN in a County Durham unemployment black-spot area has praised a women-only training scheme for helping her find permenant work.

Norma Twomey, of Ouston, near Chester-le-Street, had problems finding work after taking a four-year break to raise her son, Liam.

But she found work as a secretary at the University Day Nursery at Old Elvet in Durham after obtaining qualifactions through Access Training's Freshstart Programme.

Now staff at Access Training hope other women who have had a career break will come to their open day at the Gateshead based centre on Wednesday, August 23, between 10am and noon, to follow in Norma Twomey's footsteps.

Training manager at the centre, Julie Reay, said the Freshstart Programme is run in a friendly environment.

She said: "For a lot of women who have been out of work for a long period of time, joining the programme is a big step. Some women have been away from a working environment for more than ten years and need confidence to join the programme.