Lottery windfall for clubs in £400k win

War veterans, sailing clubs and conservationists in the Black Country and Staffordshire have picked up a share of £400,000 lottery cash.

Aldridge Sailing Club won £4,595 in the latest batch of grants from Awards for All.

Meanwhile, the West Midlands Historic Buildings Trust (WMHBT) has picked up £9,900 to prepare a book of pictures and memories of the Lye and Wollescote Chapel and Cemetery, and the Midlands Kerala Cultural Association in Rushall, Walsall, were handed £9,803.

Friar Park Kidz Activity Centre in Wednesbury got £9,994 for a new activity programme.

David Trevis Smith of the WMHBT said: "We are hoping the release of the book will help raise the profile of restoration work happening on the site.

"It's great to have been able to get this money, which sets us up to get the board put up and the book published within six months."

The Outside Centre in Wolverhampton, an arts and culture group for the disabled, has picked up the maximum £10,000 grant.

Chief executive Dr Paul Darke said: "The money will be used to develop disabled people's opportunities to do drama in the city together, culminating in a group show."

Staff and pupils at Ashwood Park Primary School, in Bells Lane, Stourbridge, also picked up £10,000. Holy Cross Community Centre in Tividale has been given £9,980 to provide classes in self-assertiveness, flower arranging, sign language, healthy cooking and drama and family arts events.

Golden Opportunities in Tipton received £5,000 to hold community events for pensioners, and the Birmingham Canal Navigation Society in Smethwick will spend £9,985 on developing an electronic archive.

Penkridge Civic Society picked up £3,752 to enable a new book about the village in the 17th Century to be published. Elsewhere in Staffordshire, Whittington and Fisherwick Parish Council is getting £7,690 to upgrade a sports pavilion, with Milwich Action Committee set to use its £1,244 grant for a parish plan.