YOUNG homeless people who have been rehoused are set to benefit from a new tumble drier - thanks to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and British Gas Millennium Awards.

Blackburn's homeless shelter Nightsafe provides accommodation for young people in 17 self-contained flats in Woodvale, Darwen.

Manager of the project Cheryl O'Reilly received the £250 Millennium Award, which will pay for a tumble drier for the laundry room.

The Millennium Awards have been launched to give away £2,000 to support community activities across East Lancashire over the next two months.

The awards will be given out with six payments of £250 made every two weeks. An additional £500 will be paid to the most deserving of the six winners.

Winners will be chosen by a panel of judges including representatives of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and British Gas. The first £250 payment was presented to Accrington Police to buy alarms for newspaper boys and girls in Accrington.

Phil Wilcock, of British Gas, said: "At British Gas we have a long history of supporting projects which help local communities. In this special partnership with the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, we are making a fund of £2,000 available to assist local community projects between now and the start of the new millennium.

"We know there are many local groups doing excellent work in the community, such as playgroups, residents associations and people working to improve their local environment.

"If you belong to a group like this, we want to hear from you now - you could soon be receiving a cash grant to help your organisation with the work that it does."

There is still time to enter. All entries should be sent to the Promotions Department, Lancashire Evening Telegraph, Newspaper House, High Street, Blackburn, BB1 1HT.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.