LOCAL voluntary and community organisations including Beaminster's Prout Bridge Project will share in a £200,000 windfall.

Twelve organisations will receive £209,689 in financial support between them from Dorset Council over two years to help with running costs.

The amounts range from £5,000 to £10,000 per annum and were awarded to organisations that work with disadvantaged, under served and marginalized communities in Dorset as part of the Organisational Support Revenue Fund.

Local groups to get funding include Bridport and District Citizens Advice, Dorset Community Transport, and the Prout Bridge Project - a youth and community charity in Beaminster which has almost doubled in size since the start of the pandemic.

It plans to use the grant for governance to create a strategy for the future.

Director of the project Paula Tuff said: “We have been growing faster than ever anticipated, but demand for our services has equally grown.

“The money from this grant will help us improve and create a strategy for the future, which will make us stand out in future grant applications and allow us to better help the community.

“The grant givers have been very supportive and have been so helpful in pointing us in the right direction.”

Daniel Green, local depot manager at Dorset Community Transport, said: “Thanks to this generous funding decision we can look forward to continuing Making Journeys Possible across Dorset with our valued PlusBus services, connecting residents of rural Dorset to essential services.

"PlusBus helps tackle the growing concern of isolation and loneliness, enabling people to get out and about and in doing so, improving their health and well-being and independent living.”

Cllr Laura Miller, Dorset Council Portfolio Holder for Customer and Community Services, said: “Social, voluntary and community sector organisations play a key role in supporting the needs of people in the community and provide activities that support local communities across the Dorset council area.

“I’m proud that Dorset Council continues to offer grants to organisations that enrich the lives of so many local people.

“The hard work and dedication of volunteers and community groups in Dorset is immense, and the projects and events that we fund make a real difference to people's lives.”