The long-term unemployed are being given the chance to train for new careers thanks to the Government-sponsored Gateway to Work initiative run in Bradford by Rathbone.

The course is designed for people aged between 18 and 24 on the New Deal scheme who have been unemployed for at least six months and are having difficulty getting back into work.

Jacqui Dixon, senior New Deal advisor at Rathbone, said: "The two-week scheme is funded through the Employment Service and is compulsory for those on New Deal who have been out of work for six months or more.

"We can help retrain people and work on employment skills which may have been lost after so long out of work.

"After two weeks, people can get the chance to go onto the longer voluntary sector option of full time education training courses."

For more information on the scheme, run in Little Germany, ring 01274 744290.