Good causes hit the jackpot
Borough good causes have been given a cash boost of more than £300,000 thanks to lottery funding.
The 10 organisations are among 196 in the north west to receive a share of £6.1m through the Big Lottery Fund.
Money will be spent on physical activity sessions, games for disabled people, teaching people how to repair bicycles and churchyard improvements, as well as a host of other initiatives.
A large chunk of the money has been awarded to Resolutions, a charity based in Higher Folds, Leigh, providing mediation for children and families experiencing conflict.
It gets £219,683, which will allow it to continue and develop its work over the next three years.
Project manager Tracy Sheppard: "We are delighted to get this opportunity. It’s going to make such a difference to the work that we do and the number of families that we can help."
Set up in 2013, Resolutions worked with 42 families last year on issues including separated parents seeking to arrange contact with a child, parents and teenagers with relationship problems and families who want to get on better.
As well as continuing the service, the money will help launch a new project called TalkFIRST on October 1 and pay for a full-time mediator so they can help 135 families in the next three years.
It will also fund a part-time management role so the charity can grow and become sustainable at the end of the funding. Mediators are undergoing training so they will be able to provide mediation for separating couples and generate income.
Mrs Sheppard said: "It makes a really big difference to people. We are giving people the opportunity to say what can help them and communicate in a way that’s productive.
"Our outcomes are about improvement emotional well-being and mental health, improving relationships and making them resilient.
"Through doing this, young people do better in school and behave better at home."