Social work assistants have welcomed the news that money raised by Comic Relief has gone into helping to fund an Oxford cafe that helps people with learning difficulties get into work.

My Cafe, which is run by the My Life My Choice association, used £1000 of Comic Relief funding to further allow the venue to be used as a centre for those with learning difficulties to be able to work.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail about the money given to the cafe, Bryan Mitchell from the My Life My Choice charity said, "It might not sound a lot, but it allowed us to apply a fresh coat of paint and buy things like the coffee machine. It makes a huge difference to the lives of the people who work here.''

''For a lot of them, they would just be sat at home with nothing to do if they didn't work here."

The cafe opened last March and has since gone on to employ around 20 people on a voluntary basis.

"If you have a learning difficulty," Mitchell said, "there aren't many employment opportunities, as often you can't handle money or deal with the public well. This cafe builds their self-esteem and confidence. And it's important for others to see that these are just people with learning difficulties, not aliens."

"In speaking to The New Humanist about the success of Comic Relief, founder Richard Curtis said, "what we do is make things as funny as we can so that people can see the other side to all the sadness. I suppose what we are fighting for is that everyone should have the privilege of leading a happy life and being able to laugh like the rest of us."