A NUMBER of organisations in Worcestershire are celebrating after receiving a boost in funding.

Four Worcestershire groups have received a share of more than £28,000 from a wider pool of more than £1million available to West Midlands projects from the Big Lottery Fund.

In Worcester, Ombersley Road Methodist Church received £9,920 to help with its You've Got A Friend project.

The group will put the money towards training student volunteers to deliver a lunchtime club catering for the lonely or isolated in the city.

Worcester Action for Youth (WAY) received £6,298 which will go towards its WAY Ahead project.

This money will train a group of its workers to deliver short courses and programmes for young people to help boost their education and self-esteem.

The Malvern Hills Repair Cafe received £9,305 which will be used for expansion and developing a training plan allowing volunteers to run their own repair cafes and make visits to local schools and colleges.

Near Evesham, The Harvington Trust received £3,000 which will be spent on installing a height barrier and signage to the Jubilee Orchard car park.

Clive Allen, a trustee and treasurer for the Harvington Trust, said: "The Harvington Trust was delighted to receive a grant of £3,000 from the Big Lottery Fund because it will enable us to fully open the Harvington Jubilee Orchard to everyone. The Jubilee Orchard was opened in the Autumn of 2014 and is now widely used by Harvington Villagers, but the trustees could not open the car park entrance until a height barrier was installed to stop vans and lorries from entering. Now we have received this grant we anticipate that soon our older residents will be able to drive there and take leisurely walks and sit and enjoy nature in the parkland.

"This is one more step in the creation of this valuable community asset for the village of Harvington."

Lyn Cole, Big Lottery Fund deputy director England, said: “Today’s awards are all about supporting people taking the lead to make a positive change in their local areas. These excellent projects will help improve communities in the West Midlands through National Lottery funding.”

The awards have been made through the Big Lottery Fund’s Awards for All and Reaching Communities programmes awarding National Lottery funding to communities and people most in need in England. Awards for All provides grants between £300 and £10,000 to voluntary and community organisations and Reaching Communities awards larger grants of £10,000 and above.