Children whose lives have been overshadowed by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster are among those helped by Malvern Hills Lions.

Eight organisations share £1,180 in the final phase of the club's annual grants scheme, run in association with the Malvern Gazette & Ledbury Reporter.

Among them is the Malvern-based Chernobyl Children's Lifeline, which welcomed youngsters from Belarus this week on a four-week holiday to the town.

The £250 grant will help pay for the children to go on trips out.

"We're really pleased," said organiser Dorothy Knights. "It will cover things like travel expenses."

Malvern Young Fire Fighters Association will get £100 towards the food for its summer camp. Spokeswoman Vanessa Maynard said: "There will be 25 of us going away for seven days, so as you can imagine we need a lot of food.

"It'll definitely keep us all going for at least a day, so we're very grateful."

Children at Wells and Wyche Playgroup can brush up on their computer skills thanks to a £120 grant.

"We're delighted. We're going to buy four or five mini computers," said spokeswoman Elizabeth Vines.

Malvern's Wednesday Comet Group, for people with learning disabilities, gets £150 towards a printer to print photos from each meeting.

"A lot of the members can't read very well so we take photos to help them visualise and remember things," said spokeswoman Ruby Walker.

Other groups to benefit are Malvern Twins and Multiples Group (£120), Longdon Leapfrogs Under-5s (£120), Lower Broadheath Pre School (£120) and Upton Youth Band (£200).

Lions spokesman David Jeavons said: "We're pleased with how the money was distributed, it's a nice broad range of organisations. So far this year, we've given to 22 groups and we'll be starting all over again in December."

Malvern Hills Lions Club are holding a barbecue in aid of Chernobyl Children's Life Line. It is not open to the public