A HAMPSHIRE charity has been awarded more than £4,000 to expand its work thanks to the parent company of the Southern Daily Echo.

Testlands Support Project (TSP) in Lordshill has been given the money to purchase its own equipment to run more sports classes for schools and clubs around the city.

They have been awarded the £4,410 by the Gannett Foundation, the charitable leg of the parent company of Newsquest, which owns the Daily Echo.

The foundation has donated more than £10,000 to good causes around the county, with the 23rd Itchen North Scouts and the Cedar School in Nursling also benefiting.

The TSP was first set up in 2011 and became a registered charity in 2015. The project, based at the Testlands Support hub in Lordshill run classes and sports sessions for children around the city.

They also raise money to put into schools to help children who can’t afford some of the equipment.

Since they began, more than 4,000 children have benefitted from their services, with 1,500 enjoying their facilities in 2016.

The charity will now be able to purchase their own equipment as opposed to using school facilities, enabling them to run their own more frequent classes.

Luke Newman, the chairman of the support project, helped set up the charity six years ago.

Luke, 24, said: “We want to keep these activities affordable for children, and this grant enables us to do this. We’re so grateful to be given this money that will help us to benefit a lot more children.

“Currently people are able to book the centre out, but with the new equipment, we can have a lot more schools come and use our space for things like trampolining, badminton and so many other activities.”

The TSP has applied to purchase hockey, football, tennis and other sporting equipment to help boost the options to surrounding schools and clubs. 

Luke said: “We’re aiming to have the new facilities in place by February half term as we’d like to have around 60 children using our equipment.

"The target is then to keep the holiday periods going and to affect about 300 children a year out of school time.

“There are currently seven schools within a mile and a half of us who could really enjoy the benefits of this grant, and we’re thrilled to be able to offer that.”