Hall & Woodhouse awarded more than £24,000 to 23 local causes across the south-east through its Community Chest Awards.  The 12^th annual awards ceremony was held at Hall & Woodhouse’s Black Rabbit pub in Arundel and is backed by Sussex Newspapers and the Sussex Community Foundation.

Mark Woodhouse, Family Director of Hall & Woodhouse, said: “We are tremendously proud of our Community Chest Awards and the thousands of people it has helped since it began 12 years ago in Sussex. We wanted to create a grant-giving initiative that would support local worthy causes across the south and help make their visions become a reality.

“When we review the applications made to the Community Chest, it is always a very difficult process as there are so many worthy causes in need of aid. Ultimately we select the charities that require our support to provide long-term benefits to the wider community.”

Arun Youth Aqua Centre, which teaches children aged between eight and 18 to sail, was awarded a grant of £2,000 to put towards the purchase of a new fleet of dinghies.

£1,500 was awarded to The Danny Gallivan Trust, which operates a converted double decker bus used to provide food and shelter for homeless veterans of all generations in Crawley. The grant will be used to fit air conditioning in the bus to add warmth in the winter and cool air in the summer.

Jamie’s Farm, a project that helps young people from Sussex, Kent and South London who are at risk of social and academic exclusion, also received £2,000 from the Community Chest. The grant has been given to build an outdoor sheltered kitchen area and stone pizza oven at the farm in Lewes.

Applications will be open for the 2020 Community Chest awards in February where voluntary groups can request funding ranging from £300 to £3,000 to help them achieve their aims. Grants could be awarded for new equipment, training, transport or running costs, and can be made towards youth services, the elderly, or any other projects that enhance the local community.

Please visit www.hall-woodhouse.co.uk/communitychest for more information.

The full list of the Hall & Woodhouse 2019 Eastern Area Community Chest winners are:

1. 1st Roffey Scout Group—£1,500
2. 7th Burgess Hill Scout Group—£867
3. The Apuldram Centre—£1,500
4. Arun Youth Aqua Centre—£2,000
5. Cadence Performing Arts—£1,000
6. Chichester Child Contact Centre—£600
7. Chichester Information Shop—£1,208
8. Community Stuff CIC—£2,000
9. Cuckfield Stroke Communication Group—£543
10. Cycling Without Age Hurst & Hassocks—£1,000
11. The Danny Gallivan Trust—£1,500
12. Fabrica—£800
13. Hope into Action Mid Sussex—£900
14. Jamie’s Farm—£2,000
15. JustDifferent—£1,000
16. Littlehampton Foodbank—£1,000
17. Littlehampton Child Contact Centre—£300
18. Search Dogs Sussex—£800
19. Music for the Memory—£500
20. Oasis Project—£600
21. Pippa’s Group—£590
22. St Joseph’s Specialist Trust—£1,655
23. Worthing United Youth FC—£1,000