PRIDE in Pill is one of three Gwent groups in line to win a national award after being handed thousands of pounds worth of funding from the National Lottery last year.

£2,813 was awarded to the group to buy equipment to make the community cleaner and safer through organised litter picks.

This grant funded litter pickers, bags, sack holders, gloves, brushes, dustpan sets, high visibility jackets, bins, wheelbarrows and first aid kits.

The group’s founder, Paul Murphy, 43, said the funding has made a big difference to tackling litter in Pill and will now allow them to focus on fly-tipping in the coming months.

He said: “Now we’ve got our own tools and equipment, we get people going around all the time. When people have free time, they can go out and clean up and do litter picking.

“The litter part is getting a little easier, but there’s a lot more fly-tipping going on in the nights.

“People know they can get away with it and that’s why they’re doing it. They’re chucking fridge freezers, beds, you name it – they’re just chucking it out.

“We will stop it but it will take time – this is a very big help.”

Elsewhere in Newport, £5,000 has been given to St Andrew’s Primary School to improve its outdoor facilities, as well as funding a giant chalkboard and a giant whiteboard.

In Torfaen, £3,516 has been awarded to New Inn Friends for Life Community Hub to establish an older person's community befriending hub.

The grant was used for venue hire, sessional worker and speaker fees, transport costs, event fees, printing costs, a CD player and CDs.

Kerry Beckett, whose been a befriending community support worker with the group for four years, said the grant has helped curb pensioners’ isolation in the community.

She said: “Lots of them were socially isolated and didn’t get out and wouldn’t mix and things like that. Many of them wouldn’t have gone out of their house.

“It’s really increased their social interaction. They’ve got new friends, they get out once a week, they do different events.

“We also try to signpost them on to different agencies if they need help with different things.”

All three groups have the possibility of gaining national acclaim by entering The National Lottery Awards 2016.

National Lottery Awards winners will receive a £3,000 cash prize and national recognition at a glittering ceremony broadcast on BBC One in October.

To nominate, tweet @LottoGoodCauses with your suggestions or call 0207 293 3599. Entries must be received by midnight on March 9.