LOCAL charities and community organisations including some in the Bridport area have shared a bumper grant of more than £143,000 to support their work.

Twenty registered charitable organisations, as well as community groups, town and parish councils and other establishments, received a share of £143,786 from Dorset Council in a bid to help vulnerable people during the pandemic.

Help with recruitment and management of volunteers were one of the top priorities for many of the organisations applying for the grants as well as help with IT and digital transformation and business planning for the future.

The grants were also helped to boost access to mental health services for younger people as well as many services designed for families and people with disabilities.

More than 13,000 people are thought to have directly benefitted from the grants, many of them older people over the age of 75.

Local groups which benefitted from the grants include Bridport Community Shed, Transition Town Bridport, The Burrough Harmony Centre, In Jolly Good Company, Future Roots, the Friendly Food Club, Project Wired UK and more.

West and North Dorset each received 33 per cent of the funding, followed by Weymouth and Portland which received 20 per cent, Purbeck 10 per cent and East Dorset 6 per cent.

A spokesman for the Bridport Community Shed said: "We are now able to offer safe opportunities to those who need to be seated, including being able to offer refreshments, in a well resourced and friendly atmosphere.

"We have also been able to establish the repair side of our activities and have carried out a range of repairs which have been used as learning opportunities for those so minded."