TWO community groups in the borough have received a funding boost to help with providing much-valued services.

Hampshire Wellbeing Services C.I.C has received £10,000 and Relate North and East Hampshire Borders (NEHAB) has been given £9,999 from the Big Lottery Fund.

Relate NEHAB is a counselling service that provides help to couples, individuals and families. The group relies solely on donations, fundraising efforts and volunteers to provide their services across north and east Hampshire.

Beryl Huntingdon, chairwoman of the board of trustees at Relate NEHAB, said: “We are thrilled to receive the grant from the lottery fund. It will make a huge difference for the provision of our young people’s counselling.

“At present, we are working with some local schools to provide counselling with their students and we would welcome contact from any school that would benefit from our services.”

Annie Noble, director of Hampshire Wellbeing Services C.I.C, told The Gazette: “We train people with diverse backgrounds to get into the community and give health talks to people who may want to improve their lifestyle.

“We are going to have teams of people who have community language skills to meet the needs of particular communities.”

Hampshire Wellbeing Services C.I.C, based in White Hart Lane, is a group that designs, develops and delivers activities to benefit the health, social care and wellbeing of minority communities.

The Big Lottery Fund awards money to community groups and projects that improve health, education and the environment each year. Since 2004, the Big Lottery Fund has awarded £6billion to good causes in Great Britain.