A TOWN housing association is offering its tenants a helping hand with a community grant worth up to £700.

Festival Housing, which has an office in Droitwich Spa and owns thousands of homes in the district, is making a pot of money available to its tenants to help with expenses related to education, employment, training and to support community activity and celebrations.

“Our Helping Hand grants can sometimes make all the difference to people’s lives,” said Lara Latcham, Festival’s fund raising co-ordinator.

“A panel of tenants has just allocated grants to five successful applicants, including a young man who needed a travel pass to continue his studies at college, a woman who required a CRB check to start a new job and a group of teenagers who were looking for a venue for a youth club.

“We are now inviting applications for our next round of funding so would urge tenants to complete an application as soon as possible,” she said.

Tenants can apply for up to £300 or up to £700 if they are a group. Application forms are available at festivalhousing.org and paper copies are available from Festival’s reception desk at its offices in The Royal Exchange, Droitwich.

The closing date for the second round of the Helping Hand Fund is noon on March 14. Festival tenants needing more information about the fund should contact Lara Latcham on 01684 573362 or LLatcham@festivalhousing.org