Thousands of reasons to celebrate with Leeds cash fund

And today the Yorkshire Evening Post can exclusively reveal the lucky recipients of a cashpot worth nearly £50,000.

The Sports Relief Community Cash Fund gives grants of up to £1,000 to groups who help improve the lives of local people leading difficult lives.

Countless community groups from across Leeds applied for a slice of the YEP-backed Sport Relief Community Cash fund.

And among the lucky winners to be revealed today are members of the Growng Zone, who are based in Kippax.

Chair June Perkin said the east Leeds-based group were thrilled to have been awarded £1,000 to help maintain their allotments and allow their 
community project to continue to flourish.

The group help children and adults with special needs by giving them a place to make friends, learn new things and build confidence.

She said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to hear we’ve been awarded the grant because we were going to revamp our summer house that was donated to us.

“We usually use the summer house for things like midnight bug hunts .

“Now we’re going to do stargazing at night – the children are so excited.”

YEP editor Nicola Furbisher was on the judging panel, along with members of the Leeds Community Foundation.

Chief executive Sally-Anne Greenfield said a number of new projects from across the city were among those to benefit from the funding. She said: “We are absolutely delighted to have funded 53 groups this year, with a number of new projects receiving grants.

“Sport Relief Community Cash grants help local projects in need of vital funding to make a difference to the lives of 
people living in their communities.

“It’s been great to support them with distributing these grants in Leeds.”

YEP editor Nicola Furbisher praised the work of the groups who applied for cash.

She added: “It was incredibly humbling to see the sheer volume of people who are going out of their way to help others in the community.

“And it was an honour to be able to show support to so many quiet miracles happening across the city.”

Other winners included Seacroft Parish Children and Young People’s Programme, West Leeds Juniors and The Growing Zone.

ZigZag Leeds, Leeds Bereavement Forum, The Joanna Project and the Friends of Middleton Park also benefitted from the cashpot.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS:

All Children Play - Leeds £1,000; Beeston Festival £1,000; Beeston Juniors Football Club £600; Burmantofts Gala Committee £750; Carlton Scout Group (8th South Leeds) £1,000; CATCH Leeds £1,000; Chapeltown and Harehills; Area Learning Project £1,000; Chapeltown Arts Festival LTD £800; City of Leeds Sea Cadets £1,000; Community Leeds After School Study Support £600; Danby Rovers £1,000; DJ School UK £956; Friends of Middleton Park £1,000; Friends of Parkinsons Park £710; Gan Yisroel Parents Association £1,000; Halton Moor and Osmondthorpe Project for Elders (HOPE) £1,000; Harmony £960; Hobbies Together £1,000; Holbeck Food Bank £1,000; Hunslet Churches Together Initiative £960; Hunslet Nelson Cricket Club £500; Joanna Leeds (The Joanna Project) £1,000; Kushy Dil (Happy Heart) Women’s Group £1,000; Learning to Live Again £848; Leeds Bereavement Forum £979; Leeds Powerchair Football Club £1,000; Leeds Refugee Forum £1,000; Lighthouse West Yorkshire £1,000; Lofthouse 2000 Brass Band £700; Morley Strollers £500; New Wortley Gardening Club £1,000; Oakwood Lane Gardening Society £1,000; Opportunities Inspiring Learning (OIL) £1,000; Prince Philip Centre PHAB Club £500; Reach £800; ROSEBANK MILLENNIUM GREEN TRUST £1,000; Sawan Vihar £1,000; Seacroft Parish Children and Young People’s Programme £1,000; SPACE Burmantofts £751; St Kitts-Nevis Association Leeds £1,000; Streetwise - Love Leeds £1,000; Syrian Community of Leeds £1,000; Tea and Tolerance £925; The Growing Zone £1,000; The Real Junk Food Cafe at All Hallows Leeds £640; Vidia Sagar Cultural Group £980; West Leeds Juniors £928; Women Asylum Seekers Together: WAST £1,000; Yorkshire Association for Music and Special Educational Needs £1,000; Yorkshire Life Aquatic CIC £1,000; Yorkshire More £930; Youth Theatres Leeds £1,000; ZigZag Leeds £1,000