MORE than £240,000 has been dished out to worthy causes across Worcestershire by county councillors since April.

The pioneering project, known as the Members Divisional Fund, allows all 57 politicians to spend £10,000 however they want.

Lunch clubs for pensioners, youth centres, schools, sea cadets, churches, dance academies and village halls were just some of the beneficiaries over the last six months.

A total of £246,526 has been dished out to 338 good causes so far in the 2012/13 financial year, out of a pot of £600,000 made available by County Hall.

The fund launched last year, when the councillors spent a total of £539,594 on 604 worthy causes across Worcestershire.

But an unspent £30,000 was added to this year’s pot.

A report on the fund says: “Those organisations, events, individuals and groups who have benefited from contributions from the scheme are many and diverse.”