THE LATEST round of grants that have been given by The Four Lanes Trust have been announced.

Schools and young people have been the main beneficiaries as nearly £10,000 in grants were awarded.

Money was given to make improvements for outdoor play areas and equipment for pre-schools and equipment for schools, as well as Scout groups, youth clubs and young chess players.

The largest grant that was given went to the KIDS Nursery based in Shakespeare Road, Popley, who were awarded £2,000 to get equipment for its upcoming sensory room.

While the sensory room is currently being built, the money will be put towards filling the room with equipment.

Kitty McMonagle, regional fundraiser at KIDS, who run the nursery, said: “We really can’t thank the local community enough for their support and contribution to the centre and we look forward to welcoming all the donors who made this possible in due course.

“We’ve had an amazing response from the local community, it really is outstanding. It makes such a great difference to children with disabilities and their parents.

“Parents of the children with special educational needs we look after in Basingstoke tell us that this is the only place they can bring their children for childcare, as they are confident our staff will be able to meet their children’s complex needs.

“We are also looking to make the room available to the local community as well, so that they can book time in their if they need it.

“We want to thank the Four Lanes Trust for their support, as well as One Stop, Lilly’s UK, Canada Life, Persimmons Home, The Breeze Radio and Waitrose, who have also helped us to get to this position.”

In addition to that, Silchester Primary School received £1,600 for whiteboards, Castle Hill Primary School was given £1,000 for their outdoor play area and Oakridge School was also given £1,000 for outdoor play equipment.

The application period for the next round of grants from the March 2019 meeting of The Four Lanes Trust is now open.

Schools and charities in Basingstoke and Deane that have projects or ideas that need financial support can apply to the trust’s director Bob Carr at fourlanestrust@gmail.com or on the phone via 01256 477 990.