Good causes in Oswestry and the surrounding area received an early Christmas present this week when the Co-op revealed a £42,000 funding boost.

The money will be shared by 15 organisations, including Oswestry Methodist Church Preschool and Hector’s Greyhound Rescue.

It comes from the local community fund which launched in September 2016 and takes the amount the Co-op has invested in good causes since then to £77,000.

Rufus Olins, director of Community and Campaigns at the Co-op, said: “It’s great to be delivering an early Christmas present to those communities and individuals that need it most.

“Making a positive contribution and making great things happen locally has been at the heart of The Co-op’s purpose since 1844, and the local community fund is a good modern example of this.

“Along with our members, we’re proud to be making a difference to hundreds, if not thousands, of local lives.”

The local community fund works by Co-Op members earning a five per cent reward for themselves and a one per cent reward for the local good cause of their choice when they buy Co-op branded products from food stores or a funeral plan or funeral from Funeralcare.

Rufus continued: “This is not just about giving money, it is about developing relationships with good causes in local communities, and over the past year we have been touched by hundreds of ways in which people have made their own communities better places to be.”

The full list of local; organisations receiving a share of the fund is: 2nd Chirk Brownies (£1,955.72); Ellesmere Town Scout Group (£1,255.81); Empathy for Special Children, Oswestry (£2,574.90); Gobowen Old Friends (£1,598.41); Hector’s Greyhound Rescue (£1,709.14); Llanymynech Village Hall (£2,464.25); Oswestry Methodist Church Pre-School (£2,475.55).