A £7.5m funding package has been agreed to enable the Together Trust to press on with its development of a specialist further education college on the site of a former Rolls-Royce factory in Openshaw, Manchester.

The deal was arranged by Barclays Corporate relationship director Andy Ingham.

The proposed scheme, a joint venture between the Together Trust, the Manchester College and Manchester city council, is due to open next September.

It will comprise a 28,000 sq ft building providing facilities for students with learning difficulties, disabilities and complex needs, and will the first of its kind in the region. The new campus, next to the Manchester College, will replace Bridge College in Offerton, Stockport, and will offer speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapies.

The Together Trust is a Stockport-based charity which provides social care, special education, community support and consultancy services.

David Marriott, chief executive of the Trust, said the new facilities together with fund-raising activity means the project will be completed quicker than planned.