ST MARTIN'S College is the lead partner in a new development partnership' that has won £670,000 to tackle discrimination.

The cash from the European Social Fund will finance a project entitled Beyond Face Value' that aims to tackle discrimination and inequality faced by members of minority ethnic communities in Lancashire.

It will provide information, advice, counselling and training to improve the job prospects of people from minority ethnic communities plus a range of services to employers that will promote equality and diversity.

These will include equality and diversity audits and workshops and work with personnel departments to develop more diverse recruitment practices.

The project, which will run for more than two years, is one of more than 100 running throughout the UK to tackle all forms of inequality and discrimination in the labour market.

Project manager Quentin Merritt, from St Martin's College business and community enterprise unit, says: We will be working with a wide range of local and regional partners to develop ways of tackling inequality and discrimination and will also be sharing new ideas and models of best practice with projects in France, Germany and Spain."