Six disabled people will get the chance to forge a career in television thanks to a £60,000 cash injection.

Tony Spiers, 72, and his wife, Sue, 56, run Basildon-based charity the South East Television and Media Workshop, which trains residents in top-of-the-range cameras and editing equipment.

Now a Lotto grant has secured the charity's life-changing work for at least another year.

For the last 15 years, the couple have worked tirelessly to provide training for disabled people and Tony, a teacher at Thurrock College for 17 years, gave up his job to focus on training.

He said: "I taught people how to make television programmes and gradually found out that there were people with disabilities who couldn't study because perhaps they couldn't see the board or hear what the teacher said.

"Some were unable to get up the stairs and for this reason they were excluded, so we set up somewhere they could learn."

Since then the pair and their team of volunteers have enjoyed a 100 per cent pass rate on the City and Guilds courses they provide every year.

Trainees have gone on to secure work at the BBC, Carlton Television, ITN, Tyne Tees Television and the Daily Mail, with others even setting up their own media businesses.

The charity uses top-of-the-range cameras and technology, worth £300,000, donated by London Weekend Television, and also uses its facilities to help youth groups, community associations and schools in Basildon.

Mr Spiers said: "It's worked really well and now we've found out we are going to be funded for another year it is a real relief, we don't need to worry now."

Founder of the Chestnut Young Voices Project, Bunty Murtagh, has worked closely with the charity.

Last week the Vange-based community group held a special preview evening where they played videos the children had written, filmed and edited at the workshop.

Mrs Murtagh told how the scheme had had a "massively positive" effect on the youngsters, encouraging them to address issued like anti-social behaviour, bullying and friendship.

She said: "The children loved it, we've now got one who is going to be a television presenter and another who wants to be a cameraman. It was really brilliant to see what they made and to see them using the equipment."

The workshop is now looking for six keen and willing trainees to come forward to start the course in September. Call Tony on 01268 472242 or 01268 583697.