COMMUNITY groups across the Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly areas are set to benefit from more than £30,000 of investment in the latest round of funding from the 4 Winds charity.

Football teams, theatre groups, groups for the elderly and charities were among the 13 local organisations sharing the funding in this round, totally £30,176, which was distributed at a special event in Cowdenbeath recently.

Liz Rae, chairperson of the charity, said: "We are delighted to see such a vibrant range of groups and projects funded in our June to August funding round, all flowing from the Little Raith Wind Farm at Mossmorran.

"The trustees have been really impressed by the amount of community work happening in our area and we’re so proud to be able to make a difference to so many organisations.”

“We are so fortunate as trustees to be involved in supporting these groups and many like them over the last decade since the wind farm opened.

"We appreciate how lucky we are as a community to have this funding available and I want to thank everyone involved in the charity and the wind farm for making these benefits possible year after year.”

Among the successful groups in this round were the Happy Days Club, which operates services for the housebound, elderly and disabled people and is based at the Maxwell Centre in Cowdenbeath – the group will receive £2,000 towards Christmas activities for their 100-plus members.

Lochgelly Under-20s football team will receive £1,650 towards strips and equipment for the new team, which was recently formed to help introduce more activities for young people in the area.

Theatre group LADAMA will also receive £2,000 towards their upcoming shows, and there was £1,000 towards an October holiday programme for Cowdenbeath After School Club.

Christmas lighting projects will also be supported, with Cowdenbeath Community Council receiving over £4,500 and Lochgelly receiving over £3,700.

The 4 Winds charity distributes community benefits to groups in the area of benefit, which is Auchtertool, Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly and Lumphinnans and each of the successful groups is based in, or works closely to deliver services in these areas.

Trustees are all representatives of each of the four communities who attend quarterly funding meetings.

A total of almost £350,000 has been distributed in the past five years from 4 Winds, with community benefits set to flow into the area again in November when the next round of grants is announced.

New applicants can download a form at www.4windstrust.com or can request a copy by emailing 4WindsSCIO@gmail.com.

The full list of successful groups is as follows:

Lochgelly Under-20’s Football Team - £1,650

Cowdenbeath Bowling Club - £1,650

Lodge Minto 385 - £2,000

LADAMA Theatre - £2,000

Cowdenbeath Community Council - £4,534.

Cowdenbeath Martial Arts Centre - £1,500

Happy Days Club - £2,000

Knights Templar Goodwill Charity Scotland - £3,168

St Patricks Primary Parent Council - £3,750

Cowdenbeath After School Club - £1,000

Station Road Indoor Bowling Club - £1,000

Lochgelly Xmas Lights group - £3,724.28

Lochgelly Bowling Club - £2,200