A TRIO of Worcester charities have benefited from a share of a £5 million pot of funding.

The Creatrix Community Group for Women, Worcester Snoezelen and newly formed community group Hefazothe Quran UK have all been awarded grants under the Big Lottery Fund’s Awards for All programme.

The fund provides grants of between £300 and £10,000 to 587 projects across the UK in addition to community groups, schools and parish and town councils.

A grant of £10,000 has been awarded to Hefazothe Quran UK, which will run religious education and other classes for children in key stages two and three as well as a pensioner’s luncheon club and other activities mainly aimed at ethnic minorities in the city.

Chairman Sulaiman Hussain said the fund would go towards the organisation’s health awareness project.

“This project is designed to raise awareness among the public about the importance of healthy diet and lifestyle and will be run by the Hefazothe Quran organisation's members and volunteers,” he said.

“In addition, this project will enable our volunteers to gain knowledge and experience in running community organisation in Worcester.

“We will use the funding to deliver healthy eating and parenting empowerment sessions and outdoor activities for the community people. This will provide beneficiaries with support and advice to improve their health and wellbeing.”

A £9,500 grant was also given to the Creatrix Community Group for Women, which provides support and personal development to women re-entering the workplace after being released from prison or following treatment for mental health, aiming to increase their chances of finding employment and improving their lives overall.

Worcester Snoezelen provides people with severe learning difficulties a multi-sensory environment which they can explore and experience through sight, hearing, smell and touch, and was awarded £9,542.

The charity’s headquarters in Turnpike Close is visited by more than 400 people from Worcester and further afield every week.

Big Lottery Fund spokesman Alison Rowe said: “It’s fantastic to see such a strong range of ideas from organisations.”