MORE than £40k of funding has been awarded to charities across Southampton and Eastleigh.

As part of the Ford Southampton Community Fund, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation has awarded £40,741 in total across the eight organisations.

All of the charities to benefit from the scheme run projects focusing focusing on providing technical and behavioural training to improve opportunities and employment prospects for young people.

The money has been divided between the 11th Eastleigh Scout Group, MAST Mayflower Studios, Monty's Community Hub, Polygon School, Propbox Youth Theatre, R.C.S Ltd, Safe New Futures and Youth Options.

Monty’s Bike Hub in Southampton received a large grant of £6,000 to support the Youth Bike Workshop Project.

Joshua Allen, Manager at Monty's Bike Hub said: "We are very grateful for the continued support of HIWCF and FORD. This new funding will go towards our Youth Bike Workshop, with weekly drop-in sessions working with local young people from our estate in Sholing."

Meanwhile, The 11th Eastleigh Scout Group in North Stoneham was awarded £2,960, enabling the group to purchase essential equipment and helping with the hire of community facilities, leadership training and safeguarding.

Jim Vaughan, Chairman of the Scout Group said: "We are hugely grateful for this generous grant, our new group can now begin investing in outdoor education equipment and STEM activities, which are key parts of our #SkillsForLife youth programmes.”

Jacqui Scott, Chief Executive at HIWCF added: “The Ford Southampton Community Fund enables the Foundation to offer a significant grant-making programme, which is once again supporting a range of truly inspiring projects in the Eastleigh and Southampton area."