South West College has been awarded funding of nearly £70,000 to provide heritage skills to students with special educational needs.

The college was granted £68,758 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver the initiative as part of a new Workhouse Connect project based at the Enniskillen Workhouse on the college's Erne campus.

The programme teaches heritage skills to students with additional needs from the Erne and Omagh campuses.

It focuses on building and maintaining a small, walled kitchen garden, common at the time when the Workhouse was operating.

The project, financed by funds raised by National Lottery players, launched on June 20, the Summer Solstice.

Following a week-long intensive summer camp, weekly sessions will continue during autumn.

Four hands-on "taste and see" workshops have also been organised for parents, caregivers, and residents of the local Devenish area.

The project will wrap up with an end-of-year event to showcase the students' achievements, timed to coincide with the Winter Solstice.

Ciaran McManus, director of Development and Support at South West College, said: “We are delighted to receive this support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

"The Workhouse Connect project offers an opportunity for students with additional needs and members of the local community to be part of the history of the Workhouse, and part of its future, through experiencing heritage skills and creating a walled garden.

“Research shows that SEN students are strikingly absent from heritage skills projects in the UK and marginalized within the heritage sector.

"Working with heritage professionals from across Northern Ireland, participants will gain a new sense of “ownership” and understanding that heritage belongs to everyone, as well as fostering new communication skills to use as they develop their interests.”