THROUGHOUT last year Okehampton Town Council awarded more than £25,000 to the benefit of local groups and organisations.

At the Annual Town Assembly held this week, the council revealed it had awarded grants totalling £25,250 throughout this civic year.

From April 2016 until now, the council has given grants ranging from £50 to £5,000 to 24 different groups and organisations operating in the town.

The town council has the authority to award grants to organisations under specific powers or under Section 137 — a provision which permits the award of a grant where it will demonstrably benefit the residents of the parish.

The organisations which benefited from the highest grants this financial year were the Ockment Centre, which received £5,000 to help with the maintenance of services and the Citizens Advice, which used its £4,000 grant to continue the operation of its advice service.

The beneficiaries that received grants of £500 included Okehampton Rivers Improvement Group, Okehampton Remembers, OkeRail, Battle of the Bands, North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team, Okehampton Skate Park Group, Relate Exeter and District, Okehampton Community Garden Association, Meldon Viaduct Company, WREN Music, Okehampton Air Cadets, Okehampton Street Pastors and Okehampton Hockey Club.

Okehampton and District Community Transport Group received £2,000, OCRA and the Okehampton Carnival were granted £1,000, while the Museum of Dartmoor Life benefited from £3,500.

Information on grants and applications are available at www.okehampton.gov.uk/grants.php