Six community centres across Hampshire are celebrating after receiving a share of Southern Water's £30,000 regional Community Fund.

Each centre secured a £1,000 grant to help with essential costs.

The centres include Norden Community Association in Basingstoke, Havelock Community Centre in Portsmouth, Elson Community Library and Hub in Gosport, Valley Park Community Association in Chandler’s Ford, Lordswood Residents and Community Association in Southampton, and Woolston Community Centre.

Collectively, these centres serve around 18,000 people every month, offering services like fitness classes, parent groups, dementia support, counselling sessions, and free meals.

Chair Barry Wake said: "Woolston Community Centre is a vibrant community facility, offering daytime and evening sessions on weekdays for various user groups.

"Weekends are also jam-packed with the addition of family parties to the mix. To enable all this, our energy consumption is relentless and consumes a major slice of our annual budget, particularly in the winter months.

"The Southern Water grant is very welcome at this time, to take some of the burden away and enable the centre to survive another cold season and continue as a much loved and valuable facility at the heart of our community."

Alex Willumsen, Southern Water’s community partnerships and programme manager, said: "The huge number of applications we received illustrated the incredible amount of support and services community centres offer to thousands of people across our region. We’re so pleased to be able to offer a helping hand through these grants, which will help ensure they can keep up their valuable work."

Woolston Community Centre alone hosts over 1,000 activities each month, ranging from Lithuanian children’s language and culture classes to a running club.

Now in its third year, Southern Water’s Community Fund scheme is distributing £30,000 to centres in Hampshire, Kent, Sussex, and the Isle of Wight.

The grant programme is part of Southern Water's commitment to supporting thriving communities while providing utility services.