ONE of Oxfordshire's largest training agencies is to be floated as a charity.

West Oxfordshire Training Services (WOTS), based at Corn Street in Witney, will be run by an independent board from next spring.

West Oxfordshire District Council, which set up WOTS in the 1980s to provide trainees for an expanding base of local firms, has decided to pull out.

But it is also leaving WOTS on a high - the organisation currently has more than 200 trainees on its books and is about to receive an Investors in People award.

Anne Whelan, assistant manager, said: "This is an exciting time for us.

"Gerry Walters, the manager, and I are very much looking forward to working with the new board.

"Becoming an independent organisation opens up a wealth of opportunities, including the chance to increase the amount of privately-funded training we can do. We may possibly also work in bordering counties."

Before the council relinquishes its administrative hold, it is looking for volunteers to serve as board members.

It wants men or women with an interest in training, preferably with a background in business or personnel management.

WOTS training covers a wide range of skills, from information technology to forklift truck driving, customer service and sport and leisure.

It manages some Gov- ernment-funded programmes and works with young people aged 16 to 25 as well as unemployed adults, training them to NVQ standards.

Story date: Tuesday 02 November

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.