AN imaginataive scheme to try to improve life in a former mining community was launched yesterday.

Easington MP John Cummings joined local children in Haswell for an open day and balloon launch to mark the start of the Communities That Work programme in the village.

Residents have worked with the Coalfields Regeneration Trust national charity on the project, which they say is designed to make the village a better place in which to live, work and learn.

The village is one of three in the country to be chosen to take part in the pilot programme, in which residents are given assistance to come up with their own action plan to improve life in their home town.

A series of consultation meetings was held in the village last summer, in which residents highlighted concerns, including the level of unemployment, improving facilities for young people and raising the aspirations of the community as a whole.

Ian Stimpson, senior special projects officer for the trust, said: "It is early days in Haswell, but there is already evidence that the action plan designed by residents is making a difference.

"We are working closely with local partners, and progress has been made on projects to deal with healthcare, to reduce the reliance on traditional benefits and to provide local action around a sustainable community transport scheme."