GORDON Brown's budget is to be welcomed for his proposals to help people with disabilities into work.

The injection of £200 million over five years into training and other support will help open up the world of work to a part of society that has been constantly marginalised.

It is a refreshing feeling working for Opportunities, a leading charity in the disability and employment field, to know that the contribution people with disabilities can make to society is being properly recognised and supported.

Opportunities has proved that, by working with people with disabilities and employers on a case-by-case basis, it is possible to find appropriate employment.

In this way, we have been able to overcome the reluctance of many employers to employ people with disabilities and have begun to end their exclusion from society.

PHIL BUSBY, Regional Executive, Opportunities, Hathersage Road, Manchester.

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