FOUR St Helens community groups are among 180 in the North West chosen to receive cash from the 'Millennium Festival Awards for All' funding programme.

St Helens Sea Cadets have been awarded £1,008; PX2000, an organisation formed by pre and ex-service groups in the borough to celebrate the millenniumal, receive £3,776; the Fairbrother Estate Tenants and Residents Association in Newton-le-Willows get £5,000; and the Eccleston Old People's Welfare Committee have been awarded £4,650.

The awards are part of the Millennium Festival, a year-long programme of celebrations throughout the UK. More grants are planned with up to £40 million available in donations throughout the country.

The Sea Cadets provide youth training for local youngsters. The group plan to use their windfall to pay for polycarbonate sheets to complete covering of windows in the unit's Mill Street HQ. This will help conserve heat and prevent further deterioration.

PX2000 plan to hold a concert paying tribute to the work of the servicemen and women. The money will be used to cover the cost of hiring an exhibition hall, printing publicity posters and subsistence.

The Fairbrother Estate TR Association provides help and services to local residents including a regular newsletter, free minibus services and liaisons with the local council. They plan to use the cash to buy new playground equipment for local children.

A friendly regular meeting place for older people, the Eccleston Old People's Welfare Committee offer social activities, services and premises and plan to use their money to purchase new equipment including tables and chairs, carpet tiles, a loop system, a TV and a video recorder.

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