THREE charitable causes in Winsford have been announced as winners of the Aviva Community Fund, sharing £30,000 between them.

The initiative asked for community groups and charities to apply for a grant from Aviva for a specific cause that would benefit the community, and then asked members of the public to vote for their favourite.

Over United Reformed Church in Swanlow Lane, The NeuroMuscular Centre at Winsford Cross, and St Luke’s Hospice have all won their bids for grants.

Over United Reformed Church won £800 for its nursing home project.

The project, ‘Tea and Chat’, invites residents and carers from all the care and nursing homes in Winsford to join in a monthly afternoon of activities, conversation and fun.

The funds awarded to ‘Tea and Chat’ from the Aviva Community Fund will be used to purchase resources designed for the needs of those attending as well as allowing musicians and other artistes to be engaged to provide entertainment.

Anne Kilshaw, the founder and organiser of Tea and Chat, said: “I am absolutely delighted that our submission has been successful. I particularly want to thank everyone who voted for our project and of course, Aviva.

“Without your support our project would not have been successful. The award of this money will secure the future of Tea and Chat for the next few years and will enable us to purchase resources and entertainment to meet the needs of the elderly people who attend.”

More than five million votes were placed with more than 450 projects benefitting overall from the community fund initiative.

The Winsford-based NeuroMuscular Centre was given £3,569 to fund two new physio treatment beds.

The centre is a unique charity that provides a range of support and services for people affected by Muscular Dystrophy.

A spokesman for the NMC said: “We would like to thank every single person who voted and helped spread the word. Everyone got behind our entry which was amazing to see.

“The NMC can now fund two new treatment beds. These will make such a difference to the NMC, enabling us to treat more people more regular regularly.”

St Luke’s Hospice was a judge’s choice award winner and has been awarded £24,699 for their Building Compassionate Communities project.

The hospice’s befriending service is built on the ‘Compassionate Communities’ strategy and is a hugely successful yet relatively unsung service operated by St Luke’s in the community. It most commonly involves matching an elderly person with a volunteer who will visit and re-connect them to their locality.

Jane Perkins, communications officer at St Luke’s said: “Thank you to everyone who took the time to register and vote, it really means so much to our hospice to enable us to continue helping people in our local community.”

Compassionate Communities also involves towns and villages setting up their own volunteer befriending service to help people with long-term illnesses stay in touch with their local community and other support services.