Congratulations are due to the jobs@Manningham scheme, which appears to be enjoying runaway success in finding work for the people of the area.

It is no mean feat to have placed 270 would-be workers in jobs since last August in what is one of the city's more deprived areas. The target of 450 jobs by August of 2002 should be well beaten at this rate.

Admittedly, these jobs have not come without a price tag attached. The two-year project is funded by £850,000 of public money from the Girlington and Manningham Single Regeneration Budget and the European Regional Development Fund.

However, it appears to be money so well spent that on the strength of results so far, the team is seeking another careers adviser and hoping to move into bigger premises. It has also broadened its target age group from the 16-25s to older people and is offering help and advice at women-only sessions.

The money is being invested wisely in the people of Manningham. Regeneration is partly about refurbishing buildings, improving streets and lighting, landscaping patches of waste land, expanding leisure facilities and increasing security to boost the confidence of local people.

But it is also, and perhaps most importantly, about getting people in deprived areas into work to enable them to help themselves and contribute more fully to the life and economy of the community. It is particularly vital that young people are able to be drawn into the workforce so they can develop the increased self-esteem that comes from being a wage-earner.