FOUR people will be recruited to become catalysts for action in four County Durham villages.

West Cornforth, Bishop Middleham, Ferryhill Station and Coxhoe have been selected to take part in the national Community Organisers scheme.

The Government funded initiative aims to train 5,000 community organisers to work across the country inspiring community action at a neighbourhood level, as part of the Prime Minister’s Big Society policy.

The Cornforth Partnership, based in West Cornforth, will lead the initiative in those four communities.

From mid January it will begin recruiting four trainee community organisers from the area and host them at Cornforth House, in West Cornforth, whilst they undergo training.

They will be assigned a specific neighbourhood identified by the partnership in consultation with other local organisations where they will bring people together, build networks, listen to ideas and support people to tackle the issues which are important to them.

Alan Hodgson, chairman of The Cornforth Partnership, said: “We’re really pleased that Cornforth is going to be one of the next areas for the Community Organisers scheme.

“There are so many people out there who are dedicated, motivated and really care about making their neighbourhood a better place to be.

“We’re very much looking forward to getting the recruitment process underway to identify community talent.

“We’re looking for resourceful, outgoing people with the ability to empathise and encourage and who have a wide range of practical skills- from one-to-one listening to supporting volunteers.”

The Cornforth Partnership was selected to lead the project in the four County Durham villages by Locality- the organisation chosen by the government to deliver the scheme.

Jess Steele, who leads the programme at Locality, said: “We selected The Cornforth Partnership as a host for Community Organisers because of the key role they play in the local community.

“They are a locally rooted, vibrant and respected organisation. We know they’ll select some fantastic community organisers.”

The full-time posts will pay £8.50 an hour.

Anyone interested in applying should contact Catherine Evans or Leanne Jones at enquiries@cornforthpartnership.org or 01740-652000.