Gosport community groups boosted by a share of £7,000 in lottery grants given out by Gosport Voluntary Action

Thanks to players of the Gosport Community Lottery, £7,215 has been awarded in grants to seven charities and community groups, via the Gosport Community Fund.

Friends of Hardway will be using their grant to install a bespoke remembrance bench on the Hardway memorial site.

This will allow visitors to reflect on the area’s history and provide a constant reminder of members of the armed forces who departed from Hardway on June 6, 1944.

David Marshall, chairman of Friends of Hardway, said: ‘We have set ourselves numerous challenges to improve the local area and in particular the Hardway Commemorative Green.

‘We hope this bench will reinforce the important role Hardway played leading up to and beyond D-Day and the ultimate sacrifice paid by those servicemen and women who did not return.’

The Privett’s Pavilion Potato Project – the Good Spud Club will be started thanks to a grant for Gosport Borough Cricket Club, aiming to get the community more engaged with growing their own fruit and vegetables.

Gosport Dolphins Swimming Club will use its grant to get young swimmers back in the pool learning to swim once it is safe to do so.

Funds given to Lee Hub, an independent community library in Lee-on-the-Solent, will be used to enable them to fund supportive equipment for those with impairments.

Marvels and Meltdowns, which supports families affected by autism, ADHD and sensory processing disorders, will be able to fund training for volunteers in Food Hygiene, Safeguarding and First Aid.

SEE ALSO: Eight people in Gosport celebrate £1,000 lottery win

Gosport Allotment Holders Association aims to install a Poly Tunnel which will be used as a training room and for cultivation of crops under cover during peak growing season.

A grant for Gosport Borough Hockey Club will help with the safe return of field hockey when current coronavirus restrictions are eased.

Ian Reeves, chairman of Gosport Voluntary Action which manages the lottery, said: ‘The community grants are made possible by the fantastic support the lottery continues to receive.

‘All the grant applications received were very well made and it is great to be able to support these good causes as they try to restart their work in 2021.’

For more information, visit gosportcommunitylottery.co.uk or phone (023) 9258 3836.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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