TEN community projects are celebrating after securing funding.

Organisations have benefited from Dorset Council’s Community and Culture Project Fund which offers grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 for arts, museums, heritage, community, physical and play activities to help make a difference to people.

Earlier in the summer it was announced that 15 arts and leisure projects were successful in their application to the fund.

Now a further 10 community projects can also be announced as successful applicants. In total £32,684 has been awarded.

Cllr Jill Haynes, Dorset Council Portfolio Holder for Customer and Community Services, said: “I’m very pleased the council can offer these small grants, despite continued pressure on our budgets.

“We’ve chosen to give these projects a boost because we recognise they will make a real difference to communities in Dorset, and help the council meet the priorities that have been set out in the Dorset Council Plan 2020-2024.”

A total of £65,000 will be up for grabs when the second round of the Community and Culture Project Fund will open on November 1. Applicants can email communities@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk if they wish to discuss eligibility.

The 10 community projects to benefit are:

Portland-based Chesil Sailability which gets £1,000 to purchase lifejackets; Cycling Without Age (£5,000) for its new trishaw for Bridport; Dorchester Family Support (£1,500) for its summer food programme for children in Dorchester receiving free school meals; Island Community Action (£2,160) for Portland shed's connecting and creating together project; The Nest Weymouth CIC (£5,000) for The Nest Café project; MyTime Young Carers (£5,000) for Memory Making Weekend Retreats for Young People; Dorset Parent Carer Council (£2,080) for its Virtual Teenager 2 Adult Event for Young People with special educational needs; Stour Provost (2,524) for broadband WIFI and audio visual equipment; The Vale Pantry in north Dorset (£1,500) for Healthy Eating Recipe bags project, and In Jolly Good Company (£4,000) for Jolly Days Project in Wimborne St Giles & Shaftesbury.