AN Ellesmere Port youth club's bid to bring its all weather sports pitch back into use has been handed a major boost.

The Oasis Centre for Young People in Coronation Road is guaranteed to receive a community grant of at least £1,000 thanks to employees of Cadent Gas.

A number of charities have been nominated and voted for by workers in the North West, with the Oasis Centre making the shortlist to receive funding of between £1,000 and £3,000 from the Cadent Foundation.

The youth club is raising funds to refurbish its run-down outdoor sports facility so it can be brought back into use.

The charity aims to help and educate young people through leisure time activities, enabling them to develop their physical, mental and social skills.

The Cadent Foundation is funded by the company and has been established to support projects large and small that help people living in vulnerable situations and disadvantaged communities, protect and preserve the natural environment, or support in creating a sustainable energy future for all.

Through its ‘Connecting Colleagues, Customers and Communities’ initiative, employees across the North West were asked to trial a new approach to the way in which local grants are allocated – by nominating a local charity which would then go forward to a public vote.

A total of 34 charities were nominated and then shortlisted through an employee voting round.

The final stage is now underway with Cadent engineers equipped with information and material to allow customers to submit a vote and find out more about the individual charities.

The charity with the most votes by February 28 next year will receive £3,000, while the two runners-up will get £1,000 each.

Julia Dwyer, director of the Cadent Foundation, said: "The need to come together and support each other has never been more important and we wanted to ensure Cadent customers and colleagues were given the chance to help care for their local community.

"The shortlisted causes are largely charities that colleagues hold close to their hearts or have links to through volunteering.

"Our aim is to provide support to vulnerable people and this new initiative allows us to focus on where help is needed the most and offer grants to projects where we can make a real difference."

  • More information on the Cadent Foundation, eligibility and when grant funding is available can be found at www.cadentfoundation.com