Disability charity the Papworth Trust and Workwise, a charity which supports people with mental health problems, are to merge.

Suffolk-based Workwise, which describes itself as a social enterprise providing work-based training for adults with mental ill health, is expected to come under the Papworth Trust umbrella.

A spokesman for the Papworth Trust said the Workwise brand will be retained in the charity’s social enterprise divisions and the Suffolk area.

The new organisation will have more than 500 staff and support around 20,000 people across the East of England.

It is not known yet whether there will be any redundancies as a result of the merger, but a spokesman said that no significant changes were expected.

Commenting on the merger, Adrian Bagg, chief executive of Papworth Trust, said: “By working together Workwise and Papworth Trust will be able to offer more brilliant services to more people in the future.”

Valerie Beresford, chief executive of Workwise, will continue with the new organisation under a new title, yet to be announced.

Papworth Trust has an income of £20.5m according to its latest accounts on the Charity Commission website, while Workwise has an income of just over £500,000.

Due diligence has been completed and the merger is hoped to be completed within the next six weeks.

Papworth Trust was a new entrant to the Charity 250 Index this year.