GOOD causes in Malvern and Evesham will be celebrating their good fortune thanks to donations made on behalf of Newsquest Media Group, one of the UK's leading regional news publishers.

Malvern Youth and Community Trust, which runs the Cube in Albert Road North, has been given £3,040 towards equipment for its community cafe.

And Heart of England Mencap has got £2,860 to buy garden items for its respite centre in Ash Grove, Evesham.

Both grants come from the Gannett Foundation UK, whose latest round of grants to deserving causes nationwide has totalled nearly £300,000.

Matthew Chuck, treasurer of the Malvern Youth and Community Trust, said: "This is brilliant news. We have recently taken the running of the cafe in-house, as opposed to having it run by a contractor and the money will go a long way towards buying equipment for the cafe."

Chairman of the trustees Simon Westrop said: “Year on year, we are seeing better applications with more focused attention on different ways of helping - caring for the present but also building for the future.

“If your application did not succeed this time, please don’t be discouraged, but look at the applications that have won grants and think how you can come up with even better ideas next year.”

The Gannett Foundation UK still has a modest reserve to cater for urgent applications until the next round of awards. Applications can be made through the Worcester News and associated titles.

Over the last ten years alone, Newsquest has given more than £3 million to help charitable community causes all over the country, from Scotland and Northern Ireland to London and the West Country.