031003 Local groups hear they have won lottery funding

23 projects have been awarded grants, ranging from a project to set up a new Council for Voluntary Services (CVS) in Aylesbury Vale, which will support charities and community groups, to a practical help and home maintenance project for elderly people.

Me2 Club based in Twyford, Wokingham is just one of the groups celebrating. The grant of £130,780 will enable disabled children in Wokingham to take part in activities with their non-disabled friends. Young volunteers, aged 17 and over, will be trained to provide one-to-one support so that the children can enjoy mainstream play and leisure activities such as brownies, cubs and sport with their non disabled friends. Some young disabled people have, up to now, only been able to attend groups designed especially to support their special need.

This project means they can mix more freely and take part in activities they want to. Parents and carers will be given a break from their caring duties. The volunteers will have the opportunity to take on a support role that will help to develop their skills and confidence.

This three year grant will fully fund the salary of a full time project co-ordinator as well as paying for travel and training costs of staff and volunteers, general running expenses, office equipment and the cost of producing information about the project.

Dorothy Buckrell, South East Regional Manager of the Community Fund, says: 'Like several of our awards today, this project is an example of how our funding is supporting disabled children and their families in local communities. Our committee recently added disabled people and their carers to our list of funding priorities. This means that more groups like Me2 Club in Berkshire will be able to extend their support through lottery funding.'

The local authority areas benefiting from grants awarded in this announcement are:

Berkshire: £180,780
Reading - 1 grant worth £50,000
Wokingham - 1 grant worth £130,780

Buckinghamshire: £327,930
Chiltern - 1 grant worth £26,103
Wycombe - 1 grant worth 50,200
Aylesbury Vale - 1 grant worth £251,627

East Sussex: £305,664
Brighton and Hove - 2 grants worth £240,303
Rother - 1 grant worth £65,361

Hampshire: £526,126
East Hampshire - 2 grants worth £272,785
New Forest - 1 grant worth £88,000
Portsmouth - 2 grants worth £102,646
Southampton - 1 grant worth £62,695

Kent: £967,499
Dartford - 1 grant worth £170,781
Dover - 1 grant worth £300,000
Medway Towns - 1 grant worth £155,787
Sevenoaks - 1 grant worth £40,931
Thanet - 1 grant worth £300,000

Surrey: £45,000
Mole Valley - 1 grant worth £45,000

Oxfordshire: £288,302
Cherwell - 1 grant worth £43,842
Oxford - 1 grant worth £244,460

West Sussex: £282,343
Chichester - 1 grant worth £282,343

For more information on all of today's awards, follow the link on the right hand side of this page.

For details of all the grants we have awarded to date see the 'What we've funded' > 'Search past grants' section of our website.