The Trust announces its autumn grant round beneficiaries

Greenham Common Trust has helped nearly 60 local charities and community organisations across West Berkshire and North Hampshire with thousands of pounds of funding as it announces its autumn round of grant aid.

With charities still feeling the pinch from the recession, the Trust's grant round was a welcome boost to organisations helping to improve the quality of life for local residents.

Among the many community groups which benefitted was Hungerford Royal British Legion which was awarded £5,000 by the Trust to help the Club replace its leaking asbestos roof.

Highclere Parochial Church Council was awarded £2,500 to help provide modern toilet facilities and a new boiler in St Michael & All Angels Church. Tadley and District Citizens Advice Bureau also received £2,000 towards its core costs.

The Trust is particularly keen on helping disadvantaged members of the community.

Ufton Court Educational Trust provides children and young people with inspirational and challenging educational experiences using the exceptional Elizabethan house and grounds of Ufton Court. The Trust granted Ufton Court £18,000 to help build one of seven log cabins which would provide accommodations for up to 32 local children to experience outdoor environmental education programmes. All visitors to "Ufton Adventure" will have access to over 500 hectares of forest, a working farm and herb garden. They will be able to study and explore the contrasting habitats of woodland, meadow, farmland, streams, ponds and a wild flower meadow. In addition they will help look after farm animals that will live adjacent to the centre.

Director of Ufton Court Education Trust Mary Riall said: "West Berkshire has identified 1,843 disadvantaged children (April 2010 Extended Schools Partnership figures) who would benefit from repeated visits that not only provide experiences of a new rural environment but also will raise aspirations and self confidence that can have a profound impact on their lives."

Dingley Family & Specialist Early Years Centres was awarded nearly £4,500 to run a series of parenting programmes to help children with special needs and disabilities learn through play.

Topics covered at the West Berkshire centre at Newbury Racecourse include learning through play in the home, music, laughter, nutrition and sensory activities.

There will also be the opportunity for parents to choose particular topics that they would like help with and part of the grant will fund specialist speakers.

One parent stressed how vital the service was in the local community. "Dingley has been an absolute lifeline and one of the best things to happen in our lives to date," she said.

Centre Manager Carol Clements added: "We are very grateful to the Greenham Common Trust for giving us the opportunity to expand on the help we can offer to our parents. This grant will give the parents increased knowledge and understanding of a number of topics and the confidence to support their child's play and learning at home."

Wessex Children's Hospice Trust (Naomi House) was delighted to receive £5,000 towards a specialist community outreach nurse to look after children with life limiting conditions in the family home.

Shirley Mumford, Clinical Team Leader, said: "The Naomi House at Home Team are extremely grateful for the support of the Greenham Common Trust. The funding will enable us to provide a rapid response to families of life limited children from West Berkshire/North Hampshire who are in crisis, and also give invaluable support to the family at the end of a child or young person's life in the family home, if this is preferred."

Greenham Common Trust bought a former nursery at Cottismore, near Headley, for West Berkshire Mencap and Newbury and Community Resource Centre to develop into a horticultural therapy centre for people with learning disabilities.

The Growing 2gether Project, which also offers training, education and employment opportunities, has had a highly productive first year of operation. All of its outside growing beds are in place, the orchard has been fully planted, rainwater tanks constructed, access road and onsite drainage repaired, commercial greenhouse renovated and a fruit cage constructed. The next stage, which is required to enable the development of the site, is to install an irrigation system.

Newbury Community Resource Centre chief executive Kelvin Hughes commented: "The vision and support of Greenham Common Trust was instrumental in the setting up of the Growing 2gether Project and this generous grant of £5,891 (shared contribution from West Berkshire Partnership) will enable us to take the next step in developing the Cottismore Park site into an excellent resource that can support participation in learning the skills of growing local food for all members of the local community and in particular those who a learning or physical disability."

Motor Neurone Disease Association Reading and West Berkshire branch received £2,500 to help provide drop in sessions, newsletters, lunches, awareness raising events and complimentary therapy sessions.

To help lonely and isolated local elderly people the Trust has also granted national charity Contact the Elderly £1,860 to help its three Newbury groups to support older people in the community and improve their quality of life.

Greenham Common Trust chief executive Stuart Tagg said: "Our two rounds of reactive annual grants assist many charitable organisations to help local people lead happier and healthier lives as well as giving disadvantaged people opportunities they would not normally have access to."

For a full list of successful grant recipients click here

The Trust's next grant round will open on January 6, 2011.

Please call Melissa Elliott for any advice and assistance on 01635 817445. Applications forms will be available online, by post or can be collected in person at Liberty House, The Enterprise Centre, New Greenham Park, Newbury RG19 6HW.