Community groups around Beccles and Bungay are celebrating after more than £10,000 was dished out.

The Beccles, Bungay, Halesworth and Villages Community Partnership has awarded a total of £10,880 to local causes during the second round of its Small Grant Scheme.

The East Suffolk Council-run scheme, which benefits community and voluntary groups, enables the delivery of projects aimed at addressing local priorities and benefit wider communities.

Bungay Community Support were among the groups to receive funding after a grant of £999.12 from the scheme to enable the group to continue supporting residents in the town and surrounding villages during the coronavirus pandemic and recovery.

Providing vital services to local residents, including picking up prescriptions and shopping for food and other essentials, the organisation hopes to soon be recognised as an official charity.

Tony Dawes, from Bungay Community Support, said: "We are very close to becoming a charity which will help to support the residents of Bungay and surrounding areas for years to come.

"We collect prescriptions, do shopping trips, provide advice and offer a befriending service.

"In the not-too-distant future, we hope to get our residents, who are reluctant to go out, back into the community.

"We will also support other groups in Bungay such as Meet Up Mondays and the Lunch club.

"We hope to be an umbrella organisation which will support volunteer groups in and around the town.”

A fortnightly dementia singing group in Holton has been able to continue their work after a grant of £997.80.

Singing with friends, run by Swell Music CIC, provides support for those affected by memory issues by providing music and singing in a friendly and light-hearted atmosphere, as well as an opportunity to socialise.

Helen Hayes from Swell Music CIC, said “We are delighted to receive this grant which enables us to carry out this valuable work reaching some of the most vulnerable members of the community, many of whom have suffered from isolation during the pandemic.

"It is lovely to offer a safe space for people to come together and enjoy some music-making and social time. “

Other projects to benefit from the grants include Asperger East Anglia, who received £1,000 to fund the purchase of a weatherproof awning for its Beccles workshop; £948.28 to Beccles Parish for a youth hub at St Michael's Church; and £1,000 to Earthwake CIC for a club for green-minded youngsters in Bungay.

Judy Cloke, chair of the community partnership, said: "It is incredible just how much we have been able to achieve through the Small Grant Scheme.

"It really highlights just what is possible when we focus on local priorities to do positive things in our communities which makes a real difference to the people who live there.”