Credit where credit is due. SINCE it started in 1996 Darwen Credit Union has loaned more than £260,000 to needy people in Darwen.

The non-profit making organisation has helped its members save more than £80,000 this year alone and offers a convenient way to save and access to low-cost loans in order to achieve financial independence.

The service has helped people from all walks of life particularly those who are socially excluded or unable to open a bank account.

There are now plans to branch out throughout Blackburn with Darwen and to make the savings service available to more children by moving into additional schools in the area.

It was founded by members of Sudellside Community Association. The initial idea had come from the then mayor Coun Eileen Entwistle who visited the Blackburn South Credit Union and talked about it at a meeting in Darwen

The members were impressed with the idea and formed a steering group of a dozen people to get a union going. Twenty-two people had to register before it could officially start and this number was reached on February 15, 1996

It began at Sudellside Neighbourhood Centre to offer a convenient ways to save and access low-cost loans in order to achieve financial independence.

It moved into its town centre premises in The Circus two years ago and appointed one part-time member of staff with money from Single Regeneration Budget Funding around the same time

A savings scheme for children has also been introduced in three Darwen primary schools and there are plans to extend into the area's high schools. There are 369 young savers so far.

Coun Dave Smith, ward councillor for Sunnyhurst ward, said: "It has made a major contribution to tackling financial exclusion in Darwen.

"It has been achieved despite the credit union having one part-time worker who has only been in post since 2000.

"The great majority of the work is done by a team of 20 local volunteers - a great example of Darwen people helping Darwen people.

"The reason this is better than other credit unions is that it is rooted in the community. Many other credit unions are much larger like the one at Blackburn with Darwen Council which is for 8,000. people. But with the Darwen one it is for local people by local people."

Learning service is branching out. THIRTEEN years ago a group of parents of children with learning difficulties and special needs devised an initiative to bridge the gap between special education and mainstream employment.

Fresh Fields was born and it has since expanded to provide working experience to anyone who is struggling to gain employment.

Service users are given practical training in horticulture and retail in a real gardening centre setting with the hope that they will go on to find successful employment. It helps around 20 people every day.

It was initiated by a group of seven parents of children with special needs and Burnley Council

The site, in Cemetery Lane, was originally the council parks' gardening centre and this was utilised to teach young people horticultural skills

Initially the service was for young people with learning difficulties or special needs but because of difficulties in obtaining continued funding the target service users was extended

Fresh Fields now helps anyone who is having difficulty getting back into work.

They provide opportunities for ex-offenders, people on New Deal, those who have been out of work for a long time, ethnic minorities as well as the original target groups of people with special needs or learning difficulties.

It sells plants, hanging baskets, shrubs, trees and other greenery direct to the public. The shop is open Monday to Friday from 9am until 3pm.

Service users learn retails and customer service skills in the shop as well as basic administration skills

It is branching out into commercial ventures such as putting together flower displays for special events such as school prize givings

Fresh Fields won an Investment in People award in November 2002 and a Business Link Challenge Award in 2003

From children to cinema, it's wholly Trinity. OVER the last 40 years, the Trinity Community Partnership has expanded into an organisation.

It provides training and employment to disabled people in Clitheroe, Accrington and Haslingden in catering, recycling and horticulture.

It began as Trinity Youth Club, three evenings per week, in 1963 but now its runs the cinema in Clitheroe, community transport for the Ribble Valley, youth groups, out-of-hours schools clubs, IT training and is now planning a £2 million arts complex in Clitheroe.

With an annual turnover of £1.5million, Trinity employs 95 people and has more than 120 volunteer staff

Early funding for Trinity in the 1970s came from the Youth and Community Service. Much of it now comes from the Government, Home Office money and charity funding although many of the individual projects are self sufficient.

Trinity Community Partnership is headed by Geoff Jackson, 59, who has also been nominated for the Pride of East Lancashire Outstanding Vocational Worker Award.

Geoff first became involved in the running of Trinity Youth Club, Clitheroe, after joining as a member at the age of 17.

He worked at engineers Lodematic in Clitheroe for eight years but quit to study for a diploma in youth and community studies in Birmingham as a mature student.

He was employed at the YMCA in St Annes for a year before returning to Clitheroe in 1972 as a full time youth and community worker employed by Lancashire County Council.

Geoff developed the youth club into a community group with a strong focus on the disabled.

From the early 1990s, it was renamed Trinity Community Partnership and grew rapidly as a model of community/social enterprise.

The Jigsaw Pantry was set up in 1991 to provide sheltered employment opportunities for disabled young people.

Now Geoff leads an organisation which provides training and employment to disabled people in Clitheroe, Accrington and Haslingden.