Community grants totalling more than £18,000 have been agreed by South Kesteven District Council to help projects including youth work, culture, play area facilities and dance sessions to help Parkinson's Disease sufferers.

Cllr Annie Mason, SKDC Cabinet Member for Communities said; "Our community grants continue to help an incredible range of groups and volunteers right across the district. I am very proud to see how our grant funding gets to the very root of what charities and organisations need to make a real difference to people's lives."

A £5,000 grant for the 2nd Stamford Scouts charity will help towards their New Scout HQ on Empingham Road to help improve youth facilities in the town. With much of the £10,345 project costs covered, the grant is towards the cost of the architect's design fees for a building to house scouts and also be available to hire for other local groups.

Stamford currently has two scout huts, one built as a farm building around 200 years ago, but neither offers space that is accessible to all regardless of physical ability.

Caythorpe Playing Field Management Committee is to receive a £4,300 community grant to improve facilities at the village's only playing field, used for cricket and football clubs as well as being the green open space for both Caythorpe and Frieston.

Play equipment was judged to be at medium risk in a recent inspection and the project, whose total cost is £5,428.22, will bring the horse spring mobile, nets on the large utility unit and the cradle swing up to required standard.

Dance for Parkinson's sessions could be underway thanks to a provisional offer of a £1,964 community grant for Parkinson's UK Grantham branch.

The project follows medical advice that exercise is as important as medication for treatment of the disease. With Covid restrictions likely to delay the project start date, the branch has been asked to prove that the project will still go ahead, with funding spent and the project completed within a year. The £2,024 project will organise weekly sessions by an instructor from Lincs Inspire.

They will be held in Grantham but will be available for the whole of the district. Other local clubs can join in if members could benefit from the exercises, promoting healthier lifestyle at the same time as encouraging social mixing to help combat loneliness, rural isolation and mental health.

Touring theatre company and registered charity Rhubarb Theatre will put its £2,000 community grant towards developing a high-quality online arts package that focuses on environmental elements.

The £20,000 project, aimed at young people and families, will be open to primary schools and to the general public via a web link. It follows conversations with schoolteachers, children and families, establishing the environment as a top priority, and will start within their own communities. The story will be adapted into a full-length family show.

A short film called 'Dustbin Doris' will be included with themes of immigration, homelessness and the environment.

Stamford and Bourne Scouts can now develop their Mental Health First Aid Course for adult volunteers and a series of sessions for young people thanks to a £3,449.68 community grant.

The project, with a total cost of £4,312, will help to improve mental health for young people across the south of the district and reduce the sense of isolation that the pandemic has caused. It will take place at the Scouts' campsite and other sites, and will including outdoor activities, possibly the first in months, based on nature and mental health awareness.

A COVID-19 autumn 2020 survey carried out by Young Minds showed that many young people with mental health problems are struggling to cope as they return to school, after months of living through the COVID-19 crisis. The sessions will also provide a model for other groups to run similar sessions making the project sustainable.