MORE than 20 organisations in Swindon have been praised for their treatment of people with disabilities.

Swindon charity Working for Opportunities staged a ceremony for the second year running to honour a select group of local employers and support groups.

Labour MP for North Swindon Michael Wills presented certificates at the ceremony, held at the Univer-sity of Bath in Swindon's Oakfield Campus.

"We are lucky in this town because there is a large number of good employers whose attitude towards disabled people is exemplary," he said.

Among the winners were the Hilton Swindon for training its staff in disability awareness and its willingness to engage in employment initiatives with local disability groups.

Zurich Financial Services was praised for a series of schemes including the introduction of a project to monitor and review the employment of people with disabilities.

Swindon Council's Enterprise Works was recognised for more than 40 years of helping those with disabilities find work.

Real Home Care Trust, a personal assistance agency for people with disabilities, was awarded for increasing its disabled workers from 16 to 21 per cent of its workforce.

Connect, an employment project, was praised for successfully introducing 300 people with learning difficulties into paid employment over 10 years.

Other organisations recognised at the ceremony were Nationwide, Wiltshire Constabulary, manufacturer Cardinal Health, Swindon Children's Scrap Store, Fish Brothers, Wicks, Manor Cabinet, Marriott Hotel, Arrowmark Catering, Co-op in Old Town, Wilkinsons store in Fleet Street, Chubb Security, McDonalds restaurant in the Outlet village and the drive-through in Great Western Way, and Pizza Hut in Shaw Ridge.

Working for Opportunities, a charity which helps Swindon people with disabilities find employment, has more than 40 Swindon employers on its register.

This year the nominations were open to all employers in the town, not just those registered.

Chairman John Green said: "We wanted to open it to all so that anyone with a positive experience could nominate their employer.

"There's still a long way to go and ideally we would be giving out hundreds of awards to employers across the town."