Whitby groups awarded grants by Sirius Minerals Foundation to help them recover from impacts of Covid

Anglo American's Woodsmith Mine at Sneaton, near Whitby.

Each organisation will receive between £500 to £5,000 to fund projects and activities to help people regain their confidence and restart their lives as the country continues to come out of lockdown.

Among the Whitby area organisations to benefit are:

* Caring Together Whitby & District

* Esk Moors Active

* Hawsker Women’s Institute

* Moorsbus CIC

* Staithes Stay & Play – mother and baby group

* St Hilda’s Old School Committee

An additional grant was made to North Yorkshire County Council to distribute to school holiday activity providers for travel and access costs to ensure rural and SEND children can access government-funded provision.

Foundation Chief Executive Leah Swain said: “We were pleased to be able to fund local organisations, many of whom had not received a grant from the Foundation before, to provide a wide range of community-based activities to enable local people impacted by the pandemic to start to get out and about again.

“It’s been a tough 18 months for so many people in our area and we are just glad we can contribute in a small way to the incredible work of the voluntary and community sector who have done so much for their communities during the pandemic.”

Anglo American is funding the Foundation with £1m a year while the mine is under construction.