Charities get nearly £700,000 in council funding

The money allowed Winchester Street Reach to buy furniture for their new unfurnished space

Communities benefitted from £698,000 of grant funding last year, a council had said.

Winchester City Council (WCC) said voluntary and not-for-profit organisations in the district were awarded a total of 109 grants to help them deliver services and activities.

The initiatives included youth counselling sessions, activities for adults with learning difficulties, citizens advice, outdoor theatre performances, walking football and homelessness support.

Cabinet member for community and engagement Kathleen Becker said the organisations "can be life-changing" for people.

The money funded 2,500 counselling sessions for 177 young people with Winchester Youth Counselling, and 252 Walk and Talk sessions with Winchester GoLD that helped adults with learning disabilities engage in social activity.

Funding also helped Citizens Advice Winchester, and enabled Play to the Crowd to perform to 116,000 people at the Theatre Royale and yearly Hat Fair.

Green initiatives also saw a boost, with money going to projects building solar panels at Itchen Abbas and Avington Village Hall, and LED lighting for equine therapy charity Broadlands RDA.

A spokesperson for Citizens Advice Winchester, which received a Strategic Fund grant from WCC, said they were "enormously grateful".

"This funding is crucial to the survival of our core advice service in Winchester District," they added.

A spokesperson for Winchester Street Reach, which got a small grant from WCC, said the money allowed them to buy furniture for their unfurnished space, in order to "provide a welcoming space to deliver various projects for vulnerable young people in Winchester".