THREE Fylde groups are celebrating after being awarded lottery grants totalling £357,863.

Chairman of Wyre District Citizens Advice Bureaux Service, Derek Timms said the money advice service run by the bureaux has been guaranteed a future thanks to £135,983 of lottery cash.

He added: "It's wonderful news and will allow us to continue the service, originally set up by a similar grant, for another three years.

"The real benefit is for the people of Wyre who have financial problems. We can also train more staff and so offer a better service than ever before."

Fylde Coast Women's Refuge, which provides safe accommodation for women and children escaping from violence or abuse, is also a beneficiary. Its £161,002 three-year grant will pay for the salaries of a full time and a part time refuge worker as well as a part time finance administrator. It will also cover running costs, training, travel and the production of educational and promotional materials.

Chairman Jude Stansfield said: "This is brilliant news for us, the agencies we work with and especially the women and children who need our support."

A one-year grant of £60,878 will fund a purpose-built unit for the storage of the Windmill Group's outdoor pursuits equipment. The group, which helps young people learn new skills by promoting challenging activities and encouraging mental and physical welfare, will use the grant to pay for purchase of land and construction.

Blackpool South MP Gordon Marsden, who has been urging the lottery charities board to channel more grants to the Fylde Coast, commented: "I'm very pleased that the board is beginning to recognise some of the problems we have in and around Blackpool and we are at last getting some money through.

"I'm particularly pleased by their recognition of the work the women's refuge has been doing since the early 1990s."

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