Business leaders have been urged to give a much-needed break to people struggling to get a job.

A gathering of 150 managers and entrepreneurs yesterday heard a plea from a disabled single mother from Whitehawk, Brighton, who feared her background - and those of thousands of other out-of-favour workers - was preventing her from getting hired.

Mum-of-three Sarah Nash, 34, said: "Employers will not see me as an employee. I'm afraid just the word disabled and my address and being a single mum means they won't listen. Please give people like me a chance."

Ms Nash, who has a serious heart condition, was speaking at the launch of a new project which is seeking to combat discrimination in the work place and to arm thousands of unemployed people with the skills to get jobs.

Equal Brighton and Hove, the largest programme of its kind in the South East, is investing £10.5 million of European Union funding in training courses over the next two years to help those who have found it difficult to get a foothold in the world of work.

The courses are considered vital to addressing the shortage of skilled workers in the city, particularly in catering, construction and motor mechanics.

But speaking after yesterday's launch at the Brighton Hilton Metropole Hotel, which also featured a motivational talk by former Olympic champion Sally Gunnell, Ms Nash told The Argus that companies also needed to face up to their own failures.

She said: "There is definitely discrimination in work places in Brighton and Hove. Disabled people don't get a look-in and companies worry that if you are single and have to look after kids yourself you might have to pop off sometimes. Local companies know that Whitehawk is a deprived area and probably think we are lazy."

Ms Nash added: "Companies need to mend their ways. It will be beneficial for them too because they are missing out on hard-working people."

The often-excluded groups targeted with Equal funding are people over 50, ex-offenders, people with disabilities, former drug addicts and alcoholics, those living in poor areas, homeless people, refugees, people aged between 16 and 25, ethnic minority groups and people with mental health problems.

For more information about Equal's training opportunities, go to www.equalbrightonandhove.org or call 01273 294670.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005