ALMOST £7,000 has been handed to community projects in Blackbird Leys by councillors.

The Leys Youth Programme received £2,761 from Blackbird Leys Parish Council to cover half the cost of its Building Together Project, one of four projects to gain funding from the organisation.

The project will allow former users of the programme to become mentors and volunteer leaders at their own clubs.

The programme provides youth activities for more than 450 young people on the estate and provides 26 different activities each week.

Trustee Richard Colbrook said it was the first time the programme had received a cash boost from the council in its 11-year history.

He said: “The money will be massively useful to us. Working with the parish council is a huge plus, it feels like we are working together.

“It’s not only about helping people to be volunteer leaders, they will end up getting leadership qualifications and it will help them with their CVs and job hunting.”

Dovecote Voluntary Parent Committee, which runs the Dovecote Playscheme, received £2,246 for a year’s moorings at Gunpowder Wharf in Thrupp, near Kidlington.

The group bought a narrow boat in November to take children on day trips but still needs cash to get the Dovecote Afloat project off the ground.

Assisted Reading for Children in Oxfordshire was given £1,500 to recruit, train and support four new reading helpers to work with 12 children in primary schools in Blackbird Leys.

The Oxford Association for the Blind got £200 to improve face-to-face services for the 20 people it works with on the estate.

Parish council chairman Gordon Roper said: “We have to be careful how we allocate money – we have not got a bottomless pit.

“We keep the money local, but there are so many things on the estate, we can’t accommodate everyone. We try to give to the neediest cases first.

“We scrutinise every claim, it’s not good to give a group some money and then they go down the pan the next year.”

Mr Roper said the amount given out in grants depended on what groups requested.

In September last year, they handed out almost £8,500 to help groups, including the Holy Family Church and Dovecote Playscheme.

The council has a bank balance of more than £53,000 and the grant budget for 2010/2011 is £30,000, almost double what was awarded last year.

Another round of grants will take place at the end of the summer.

Applications can be made for £50 to £7,000.

To apply for a grant, write to clerk Malcolm Anderson at 13 Bailey Road, Oxford or go to the 7pm meetings on the last Tuesday of the month at the Community Centre in Blackbird Leys Road.