From money towards a performing arts festival to funding for Citizens Advice support work - local groups and causes have been given a cash boost by Weymouth Town Council.

The Council’s Finance and Governance Committee agreed on several grants totalling more than £20,000 this week.  

Cllr Peter Barrow was elected as the new Chairman of the Finance & Governance Committee on Wednesday, June 7, when the applications were decided.

He said: “The breadth of applications supported by Weymouth Town Council shows what a fantastic range of community groups we have in Weymouth."

Citizens Advice Central Dorset provide advice to those who are struggling with the cost of living. They urgently need to take on new advisers and supervisors to cope with the increasing demand for their services in Weymouth, helping them to focus on those who are most in need.  

They were awarded £5,000 for the coming year to help with the costs of expanding their core advice service in Weymouth.  

Activate Performing Arts requested funding for an outdoor performing arts festival in Weymouth in September and were awarded £3,500. 

AsOne Theatre Company are a touring company that tells the stories of real people from countries including Ukraine. They were awarded £2,500 to work with the Ukrainian community in Weymouth to create a film. 

Trident BJJ Weymouth is a self-defence group that requested a grant to go towards purchasing high-quality rollout mats to give them maximum flexibility. They were awarded just over £2,800.  

St Nicholas Church holds church and charity events, coffee mornings and soon-to-be lunch club and toddlers’ group. The money will allow them to purchase folding tables, stackable chairs, crockery, glasses and cutlery to use for fundraising events and groups, and they were awarded £2,850. 

Local radio station Air 107.2 CIC wants to raise greater awareness of the station and fund specialist software. They were awarded £2,565. 

Climate Resources and Guidance (CRAG) are a newly established charity, and this project goes towards their first information and guidance material, and also the opportunity to engage local communities, publicise their existence, and recruit new members and volunteers, The project is to produce six leaflet information stands and accompanying posters to place in six key locations in Weymouth. They received funding of £2,990 towards raising  

Cllr Pete Barrow added: "From helping to support a project capturing the stories of Ukrainians and those who are hosting them in Weymouth to providing support for Citizens Advice, to funding new rollout mats for a Jiu Jitsu club if your group needs support with some funding, check our website to see if you are eligible.”