A £10,000 Big Lottery Fund award to Norwood will help people with learning disabilities to acquire new domestic and work skills.

Norwood's supported employment service is piloting a scheme involving hand-held personal digital assistant devices (PDAs).

The aim is to assist clients to perform daily tasks such as tea-making, running a bath, using a photocopier or operating a DVD player.

The PDA will gradually remove steps from a pre-programmed sequence to the point where the person can perform the task from memory.

A £5,000 donation from the Hilda and Samuel Marks Charitable Trust will go towards additional PDAs and staff training.

Norwood's Linda Looney said the scheme would not only enhance clients' skills "but reduce their level of dependence on staff".

She added: "I hope this opportunity will give the people who use Norwood's services a chance to feel liberated."