USERS of a new community project in Studley were delighted to discover they had been granted £60,000 for the next three years from the Lottery Community Fund.

Escape: Community Art in Action, which has been running since the spring, has already attracted a steady stream of villagers to its wide range of activities on a Tuesday afternoon.

Its aim is to provide a community focus for residents, offering a health visitor service, arts workshops and information on training and confidence building.

The project, which runs at the Youth and Community Centre off Studley High Street, had been extremely successful, said manager Karen Jones, and users had played a crucial role in gaining the funding by letter writing.

Two other similar projects are run in Stratford and Alcester - but only Studley's has received the grant.

The scheme aims to get people back into work and at the same time promote a greater understanding of health issues.

The new three-year grant will fund freelance workers, expenses, rent and training.

Mrs Jones said: "We're absolutely delighted with the money and will be launching a new programme of activities in December.

"We have an average of 25 people a week using the service. But we also provide lots of activities for their children.

"We've almost been a victim of our own success, we've had that much interest."

Escape was originally conceived by Stratford Family Support Team and the Studley Health Visiting Team.