SIX groups are set to share in a £145,000 National Lottery pay out in the Forest, including a six-figure grant for a children’s centre.

The Forest of Dean Children’s Opportunity Centre in Coleford’s Bowen’s Hill Road is set to receive a “fantastic” £101,074, which will allow the early years additional needs support project to expand its service from two days per week to three days.

Centre manager Sonia Molyneaux said: “The Forest of Dean Children’s Opportunity Centre has received a grant for £101,073 over five years to secure the family worker role at the centre.

“Thanks to the National Lottery players, we can continue to provide services which many families in the Forest of Dean see as a lifeline.

“This fantastic award will ensure we can continue to build supportive relationships through workshops, home visits and community partnerships.”

The centre, which be- gan life in the former Broadwell School in 1982, uses an inclusive approach and has an established practice of providing mixed group programmes where children with extra needs and those without mingle and play together.

It supports babies and children under seven, and their families, through stay and play activities, hydrotherapy and sensory sessions, and the National Lottery Community Fund grant will help expand support to families with extra needs such as physical and learning disabilities, drug and alcohol problems and behavioural issues.

Other Forest groups to receive Lottery funding for projects in the latest quarterly pay outs, are Tibberton Community Primary School, Pillowell Village Hall, Dean Radio, Viney Hill Christian Adventure Centre Ltd and the Orchard Trust in Lydbrook.

A £4,100 grant to Tibberton Primary will be used to deliver activities for families with young children, promoting early learning and bringing people together.

Pillowell Village Hall will be able to refurbish its kitchen to help increase community activities thanks to a £9,968 grant, while Dean Radio will receive £8,852 to provide media workshops for volunteers, to boost the reach of the community radio station and improve participants’ employability skills.

Viney Hill Christian Adventure Centre’s £9,750 grant will go towards installing specialised equipment and facilities to make activities accessible to members of the community.

And the Orchard Trust day centre will benefit from a £10,000 pay out which will be used to run a series of events celebrating the group’s 30th anniversary, allowing them to showcase their services to people living with disabilities or other social and emotional challenges.

Thirty eight community organisations across Gloucestershire are celebrating awards of more than £850,000 in funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, raised by players for good causes.

James Harcourt, England grant-making director at the National Lottery Community Fund, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players we are able to support more projects addressing loneliness and social isolation than any other funder in the UK.

“We’re delighted that many of the projects we have funded this quarter are focussed on bringing communities together, enabling people to make new connections and empowering their communities to thrive.

“With their ideas, knowledge and passion, this money changes lives.”

The National Lottery Community Fund awarded more than £8.5m in funding to more than 350 community projects across the South West this quarter.

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk