A £400,000 initiative to get people who dropped out from education back into the classroom is being launched in Herefordshire.

The council, schools and colleges are involved in the scheme aimed at helping people who left school with no or few qualifications.

Run in partnership with the Herefordshire College of Technology, the courses will be staged at the WRVS Riverside Community Learning Centre, in St James, and the South Wye Community Learning centre in South Wye.

People who have recently benefited from studying will be employed as mentors to help and encourage new learners.

The courses will be staged between now and February 2008 and cover topics as diverse as healthy eating, helping children with homework, digital photography and computing.

It has been decided not to gear the learning towards providing formal qualifications but to offer them as ice-breakers to encourage people back into education.

"Our research shows that nearly one in four adults experiences literacy or numeracy issues and this is having a serious impact on the county's competitiveness," said Rachel Owttrim, European Social Fund contract manager.

Funding for the project has come from the European Social Fund and the Learning and Skills Council.