HELP is at hand for staff at a crisis-hit North East green energy firm as a workers' trust steps in to offer cash and support.

The Eaga Trust has announced plans to help its members – 1,500 of whom have just lost jobs with Tyneside-based Carillion Energy Services (CAS).

Trust members with dreams of running a business with a “belief in employee engagement and ownership” can apply for grants in excess of £500,000 from the trust’s £60m reserves.

The trust will also make business support services available to individuals for up to six months after ventures are under way.

Advice, support and grants of £1,000 will also be available for staff hoping to retrain.

A jobs club will also be set up online.

Set up by the founder of the now-defunct green power firm Eaga, John Clough, the trust was designed by the former mining executive to give workers a stake in the business.

The organisation remains a separate entity after the firm went through a series of changes, including a takeover by CES.

But CES was forced to embark on a 1,500 jobs cull in December after solar panel subsidies were cut.

The trust, which has around 4,000 members in total, has stressed it cannot offer lump sum payouts.

Ashley Dean, chief executive of the trust, said: “We are trying to create the opportunity for meaningful, sustainable employment.

“There are 1,500 people who have just lost their job at Carillion and many of them are struggling to find another job.

“It is tough and there really are some humbling stories. The trust genuinely cares about these people.”

Founder Mr Clough said the trust will invest in business plans with the right ethos.

He said: “We have a substantial trust fund and this represents a substantial investment in the North East, where the majority of our members are.

“As we see success come out of this, the more likely we will be to loosen the purse strings.

“I would like to see us loosen the purse strings very quickly and very substantially.

“The potential for the North East is really quite exciting.”