GROUPS which benefit the community have been given a funding boost of almost £9,000 from Worcestershire County Council.

The latest round of the voluntary and community sector grants, administered by the council, has delivered much-needed money to four groups.

A total of £8,980 will be used to finance a variety of activities which support older people and encourage community arts.

The successful applicants in the Malvern area are Welland Day Centre, which received £3,480; Festival Housing, which was given £4,500; Malvern Fringe Arts, which received £500; and Re:Action Theatre Company, which was awarded £500. Cathy Spence, spokeswoman for Festival, said: “This is fantastic news.

“We already run quite a few social activities at Festival for our sheltered housing residents.

“This additional funding will enable us to roll out the more popular activities such as our film club across Worcestershire.

“We’re also going to be recruiting a social activities co-ordinator to make sure Festival’s older people have a whole range of events throughout the year.”

Lauren Bentley, co-founder of Re:Action Theatre Company, said: “We have been doing free workshops with the local community. It means we will be able to pay people to come and teach workshops.”

Councillor Simon Geraghty, cabinet member for planning, economy and performance, said: “It’s great news to see community projects for older people happening in the Malvern area.

“Working with voluntary and community sector groups is an effective and value-for-money way for us to deliver community services at ground level, so I’m very grateful for their high- quality applications.”

For information about the latest round of Worcester-shire County Council’s VCS grants, visit worcestershire.gov.uk/voluntary