LEARNING-disabled residents at a unique community on the North York Moors say they are looking to a union to help them protect their way of life.

Some 70 co-workers and residents at Botton, near Whitby, have formed a community branch of Unite and say they are planning with other union activists to raise the profile of their struggle against proposed changes to the use of the volunteer co-workers in the village.

A spokesman said they were unionising to fight for the right to keep doing meaningful work and have a family life. He claimed the charity, which runs the Camphill Village Trust (CVT), was trying to alter long-established shared living arrangement in residents’ homes and also to make major changes in their workshops.

Co-worker Eddie Thornton said he hoped that by joining a union residents’ voices would be amplified to a level that no one could ignore. Trust chief executive Huw John said it looked forward to Unite contacting the charity to ensure it heard a balanced view of the issues at Botton.

He said there was no plan to shut down the workshops, which had a key role to play in the future, and claimed arrangements being put in place at Botton adhered exactly to a High Court agreement negotiated with co-workers at their request.

“We consider it an act of bad faith to sign up to an agreement in court and then complain about its implementation,” he added.