Disabled people who earn a living hand-crafting garden furniture are hoping to win a slice of the Oxford Mail and British Gas 5,000 giveaway, writes Roseena Parveen.

Workers at the Pathway Workshop in Blackbird Leys, Oxford, have applied for 500 to help maintain their business.

It was set up by company director Eric Johnson, who owned RJ Johnson home improvement store in Watlington Road, Cowley.

Mr Johnson wanted to make use of offcuts of timber that were going to waste and started to employ local disabled people to create beautiful nest boxes for birds, which could then be sold.

The idea grew, and in 1993 the Pathway workshop was moved to purpose-built premises in Dunnock Way.

Now 17 people who suffer with mental and physical disabilities are employed full time at the workshop to create garden furniture. They are trained in using saw mills, designing and making the furniture, which is then sold.

Workshop organiser Jenny O'Loughlin says: "It's a full-time job for these people, not a therapy session. It gives them a purpose in life and they can develop confidence and a sense of well-being when their goods sell.

"The products are very successful and we sell from the workshop and at garden centres throughout the city."

Stephen Chawke, British Gas spokesman, says: "The dedication and craftsmanship of the Pathway workshop is already known to us, having seen their work in the past. I wish them luck in the deciding stages of these awards."

Other organisations who have applied for cash from the community chest include:

**Oxford Carers' Support Group in Rippington Drive, Marston, which has asked for 500 to help daytrips to give people looking after sick loved ones a break.

**Witney Contact Centre, which has applied for 500 to help children with divorced or separated parents to keep in touch with their family members.

The centre, in Church Green, Witney, provides the children with a relaxed place in which to meet their parents.

**Styleacres, a home for adults with physical and learning difficulties in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, near Wallingford, which has applied for 500 to help buy a people carrier which can be adopted for wheelchair users.

**Barton United Boys' Football Club at Headington, Oxford, which has applied for 500 for training tops, footballs and other equipment for use by its 60 plus members.

**Our Lady's Play Group, Oxford Road, Cowley, which would like 500 towards redesigning its garden.