A BRADFORD play charity was today awarded £347,222 to roll out more adventure time across the district.

Bosses at Eccleshill Adventure Playground will use the money from the Big Lottery Fund's Reaching Communities pot over the next three years to take its mobile play programme out to six of the most deprived areas to inspire local communities to create and maintain their own playgrounds.

The funding will also go towards extending the charity's existing play worker apprentice ship scheme and to train up future youth workers, said Janet Jowett, manager of the playground.

The targeted areas will be in Ravenscliffe, Lower Grange, Scholemoor, Parkside in West Bowling, all in Bradford, Wrose and Windhill in Shipley, and Braithwaite in Keighley.

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Social housing provider Incommunities has also agreed to invest in the scheme, said Ms Jowett who added: "It a nutshell we are going to be a conduit. We're not just going to parachute in and then walk away. We're hoping to build up skills in those communities so they can build up their own adventure playgrounds, take ownership of them and sustain them to help their young children develop."

The University of Bradford has been awarded £310,424 to support disabled students access sport and more recreational activities helping them integrate with other existing societies and groups.

Another scheme to benefit from the May round of Lottery grants is Scrummy Food Bites at Windhill Community Centre.

The project has got £9,600 to give hot meals twice a week to children and young people living in extreme poverty.

Centre manager Jeannie Smith said the idea came after using up some leftover funding to serve beans on toast to youngsters at its playscheme.

"We saw just how much they need it so we extended the idea to put in a bid. They will be thinking about what they want to eat, cooking it and serving it so there's lots of learning skills in there. We'll have enough funding for one year but we'll be looking at keeping it going after that," she said.

In all, 14 schemes across the district will benefit in a share of £762,696. Bradford Cancer Support is getting £5,200 to combat loneliness and help people diagnosed make positive life choices including healthy eating.

Bradford Cyrenians Limited will use its £8,010 to support homeless women and get them work ready while another Bradford project under Ces Elite Training has £10,000 for a Can U Kick It obesity and and gang-culture busting sports programme.

Horton Community Farm has £10,000 for its Recover and Grow scheme running therapeutic horticultural workshops to reduce anxiety among asylum seekers, people with mental health issues and those with learning disabilities.

A four-week summer activity scheme will be run by Safety First Community Training with its £9,826 in Bradford while St Mary's Church in Laisterdyke is getting £10,000 to convert space to make a drop-in facility for young people and in Brighouse £9,999 is going to a DJ to Learn workshops project to help cut anti-social behaviour in the community.

Parkwood Primary School in Keighley is getting £10,000 to build a climbing structure while Glusburn Primary School will use its £10,000 to create a nature trail. Braithwaite Senior Voice's Good Grub club in Broster Avenue will furnish its centre and put on a luncheon club with its £2,415 and Keighley R2M Cricket Club has £10,000 for its Building Young Minds 2 project delivering workshops teaching young men the definition of sexual exploitation and consequences of grooming young girls.