THANK you for your coverage in last week's Advertiser, ''Ground Breaking Job Scheme,'' which focused on the council's environmental task force, a training scheme which is currently working hard to improve the Redditch environment.

Currently, the scheme gives work-based experience to eight men aged between 20 and 56.

It is true to say that our trainees are currently unemployed (in fact, the scheme has proved to be an ideal springboard to get people back into full-time work).

However, it may have been implied that the majority of men on the project have either a criminal record or a background of learning difficulties and social problems.

This is not the case and it gives an unclear impression of the dedicated and hard-working lads we have on the scheme.

Under the leadership of supervisor Mick Pinfold, the task force has already transformed 21 gardens in Batchley and the grounds at Arthur Jobson House sheltered accommodation scheme in Abbeydale, and they're now busy improving the lakeside in Arrow Valley Park.

The project proves its worth, not only in the way it is transforming the borough, but in the fact that nine trainees have already gone on to find work after completing the course. Also, a number of trainees got so much from their time with the project that they've come back to work on the scheme after completing their allotted time.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone on the team for their hard work and wish everyone involved the very best for the future.

Paul Patten

Area Director (Central)

Redditch Council