A NUMBER of community projects in the Post area have benefitted from the latest round of National Lottery funding by the Big Lottery Fund.

In total, 183 projects across the South West are sharing a pot of £3,200,584. Around half a million pounds of that pot has gone to community groups in the Post area.

The funding, from the ‘Awards for All’ scheme, will support a diverse range of projects to enable people to improve their skills, meet new people and strengthen their communities.

In Cornwall: A number of schools in the area have received grant money from the Big Lottery Fund.

South Petherwin Community Primary School has received £10,000 for an adventure trail. They will use the money to purchase and install an adventure trail, which includes a range of play equipment for children.

The trail will increase participation in physical activity through play opportunities.

Blisland Primary School will use their funding for their village community pre-school and nursery.

The school have been awarded £10,000 for play and nursery facilities for the young children that attend the school and nursery.

It is hoped the investment will lead to improved social skills and reduced isolation for the pupils.

Also receiving £10,000 is Tintagel Pre-School for their ‘Make Room for our ‘Tiny Angels’ group project. The group will use the funding to improve a nursery room at the Tintagel Children’s Centre, enhancing facilities for the local community and encouraging engagement in positive social activities.

Another group from Tintagel, the Memorial Playing Field Association have been awarded £9,693.10 for their ‘Keeping Play Safe’ project.

The association want to use this money to fund improvements to the playing field in Tintagel by purchasing new gates and fencing. It is hoped this will enhance the local environment for people to use the playing field and enjoy it.

The Week St Mary Parochial Church Council is delighted to receive £10,000 towards their ‘Warm and Dry this Winter’ project. The local church’s heating system needs replacing and this funding will enable the council to do this.

This will improve the facilities available to the community helping to bring people together and reduce rural isolation.

Funding has also been granted to Launcells Parish Council, who will use the £1,365 awarded for a hearing loop system in the parish hall. The installation of an induction loop system in the parish hall will allow people with a hearing impairment to gain the full benefits of activities and meetings in the hall.

In Devon: The Forget-Me-Not Friends, based in Torridge, who hold a number of memory café sessions in Halwill, are among the recipients of a Big Lottery Fund grant.

The group want to use the funding to increase their monthly activity sessions for people living with dementia. They also want to provide an information hub, which will offer support and guidance around health and social care needs. This will build capacity for community provision and support services. The Forget-Me-Not Friends have been awarded £9,722.

The Torridge, North, Mid and West Devon Citizens Advice Bureau branches want to set up a ‘In Line to Online’ project.

They have been awarded £7,517.73 to increase their capacity to provide online advocacy services to their individual communities.

This grant money will enable them to improve the advice and information services they already provide.

Shebbear Community School have received £10,000 for their sports and playground improvements project. The funding will be used to create an outdoor multi-use games area for children.

This will allow the school to provide after-school sports activities and increase children’s health and fitness.

Finally, receiving the largest chunk of the Big Lottery Fund grants is the TTVS, the council for voluntary service for Torridge. Through the ‘Reaching Communities’ scheme the organisation has been awarded £455,459.

This substantial amount will be used for ‘The Upbeat Project — Enabling Young Adult Carers to Thrive’. The project will develop and expand its young adult carer work. It aims to help beneficiaries effectively manage the balance between their home and caring responsibilities and education, employment and training, whilst also improving their wellbeing and life skills.

The project will provide one-to-one support to young carers, with the aim of improving their confidence and employment aspirations.