COMMUNITY groups in Dorset are celebrating an early Christmas present after securing grants from the Gannett Foundation.

The Gannett Foundation is the charitable arm of the Dorset Echo’s parent company, Newsquest Media Group, which supports projects and organisations in areas across the UK where its papers operate.

Cheques are being written for more than £300,000 this Christmas after the annual round of charitable grants made on behalf of Newsquest Media Group.

The five trustees struggled to choose between hundreds of deserving applications, but narrowed the list down to those which they thought would deliver practical benefits to communities served by any of Newsquest’s 165 local news brands.

In Dorset the lucky recipients are Chideock Village Hall, which receives £4,000 to refurbish its kitchen, and disabled sailing charity Chesil Sailability, which receives £1,100 to support solo sailing.

Chideock Village Hall is the hub of community life, being used for a range of local activities including art and dance classes, table tennis, whist, bingo, meetings of the WI, parish council and Chideock Society, as well as a venue for weddings and quiz nights.

With a refurbished kitchen, the trustees say they will be able to hold more weddings and other events that will require a modern kitchen to prepare and serve food at the hall. It is hoped work can start on the new facility in the new year with work completed in six to eight weeks.

The total cost of the work is more than £12,000. The first phase of work will be partly funded by the Gannett Foundation grant.

Meanwhile, Chesil Sailability, which is based at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, has received money to support disabled sailors.

Specifically, it will pay for servo mechanism equipment that can be put in sailing boats so people with severe disabilities can sail solo. It will also fund a set of racing sails for two boats to help performance at competitive events.

Chesil Sailability said both of these projects will support sailors with disabilities to progress in their aspirations, regardless of how severe their disability may be.