THOUSANDS of pounds in grants have been handed out to projects across Basildon.

Basildon Council has given out £13,726 as part of the £1million community investment fund.

Presidents Community Hall Association has received £8,666 for its project to bring new life to an old community hall, in Laindon, with new equipment and the start of a new club, JFK Alliance (Just for Kids).

The project will also see a new cooker installed, which will enable the hall to be hired out with a fully operational kitchen.

Pitsea Day Centre, which operates at the Place, and provides activities for the over 55s, will receive £5,060 for its project to re-landscape and re-design the outdoor communal garden area.

The revamp, which will benefit all users of the Place, will include new seating facilities, relaying of uneven paving slabs and tidying and replanting of the garden’s flower beds.

Basildon Council’s cabinet member for community services, Terri Sargent, said: “It’s fantastic to see so many community groups coming forward with applications.

These projects have a huge impact on the local community and they are extremely beneficial to the borough’s residents.”

The community investment fund was created to help support the council creating opportunity’ by allowing community and voluntary groups to apply for funding towards projects, which will help the community and increase volunteering in the Basildon Borough.

The one-off funding of £1m was established as part of the council’s budget in 2013/2014, however a balance of £554,996.62 has been carried forward into 2014/15.

The community investment fund is open for applications and they can be submitted at any time and applicants will be notified of the assessment date. The final deadline for applications is February 1, 2015. However the fund will close before this date if all the cash have been allocated, so people are urged to apply as soon as possible.