Charities benefit from £900 cash grants

Gunwharf Quays, owned by FTSE 100 company Land Securities, dished out £900 each to four projects.

The shopping centres’ charitable scheme, called Arise, has given out more than £45,000 in total over the years.

Now Learning Links, Off the Record, EBP South and Southsea Parkrun have all received cash.

Leaning Links will spend the money on its Furnish project, recruiting long-term unemployed people to collect and improve old furniture.

EBP South will buy refreshments for 80 volunteers in a two-day event promoting science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) to junior school pupils.

And counselling service Off The Record will improve the decoration and soundproofing of its counselling rooms. Southsea Parkrun will buy an defibrillator.

Colin Wilding, general manager at Gunwharf Quays, said 64 groups, who put in bids for the cash grants, had been helped over the years.