PROJECTS SHARE £7.6M LOTTERY CASH
More than 890 community projects have been awarded grants totalling over £7.6 million from the Big Lottery Fund.
Groups received between £300 and £10,000 from the Awards For All programme.
Among recipients is The Axis Educational Trust, in Barnet, north London. It will use its grant of £10,000 to deliver to an extracurricular literacy and drama programme for children and parents.
Organisers hope the scheme will help beneficiaries develop reading and writing skills and improve their confidence.
Lowland Search Dogs, in Horsham, Sussex, received £8,746 to provide waterproof clothing and radio equipment for newly recruited volunteers. They will then be able to assist police and search teams looking for missing people.
Meanwhile, Hampshire Museums And Galleries Trust was awarded £9,500 to create a community garden at an unused and neglected site in Basingstoke town centre.
Lyn Cole, Big Lottery Fund deputy director for England, said: "Awards for All is a great way for community groups to raise funding of up to £10,000 for projects that can make a difference to lots of people.
"From developing community gardening projects and children's play spaces to protecting places of natural and historic importance, these diverse projects really do improve and enhance lots of people's lives in lots of different ways."
In total, 897 groups shared funding worth £7,638,218.
Other recipients include Erma's Jamaica Hospital Appeal, in Birmingham. It will use its grant of £10,000 to stage a community event celebrating the contribution of black veterans during the First World War.
Organisers hope the event will improve community cohesion by raising awareness of residents' shared heritage.
St Anthony's Project For Homeless Addicts, in Bradford, was awarded £9,992 to pay for a gardener to deliver vegetable, herb and plant growing activities for homeless and formerly homeless participants.
The scheme is designed to teach basic living skills and divert people away from drug and alcohol use.
