Three community groups have received a welcome cash windfall thanks to the company which owns the Wandsworth Borough News.

The Gannett Foundation, the charitable arm of owners Newsquest Media, last Christmas donated £200,000 to community charities and continued its philanthropy by last week dishing out £16,000 to Wandsworth-based groups.

A Gannett spokesman said: "We value projects which take a creative approach to such fundamental issues as education, neighbourhood improvement, economic development, youth development, community problem-solving, assistance to disadvantaged people, environmental conservation and cultural enrichment."

Representatives from Wandsworth Mind, Generate Opportunities and Share Community were invited to the Borough News offices on Friday to receive their cheques, which will be put to good use in a variety of projects over the coming months.

The Battersea-based Share Community received the biggest individual handout when it received a cheque for £10,000, to be used for a horticultural project in the grounds of Springfield Hospital. Share provide training and rehabilitation for people with disabilities and mental health problems, and plan to use the money to create a more impressive garden for visitors in the hospital grounds, including benching, paving and a polytunnel.

Share chief executive Annie McDowall said: "We are absolutely delighted. It means that many more disabled people will get to learn valuable skills."

Generate, based in Summerstown in Tooting, collected a cheque for £5,000. The project, which provides practical support to around 500 people with moderate learning difficulties, plans to use the money to buy disco equipment and on training for its members to run their own parties.

Project manager Clive Boyd said: "Our members will be able to run their own parties, do the publicity, and make it a more hands-on than just hiring a DJ. We are very grateful."

The third appreciative recipient was Wandsworth Mind, the borough's principal mental health charity. Its £1,000 donation is to be spent buying digital video camera equipment for their Wiseton Road Project, to allow people there to develop creative mental health projects.

Project co-ordinator Hilary Pugh said: "We are hugely grateful for this donation. We hope to build people's confidence and self-esteem with these projects. We were absolutely delighted when we heard the news."

May 30, 2003 10:30