OKEHAMPTON Town Council has allocated £350 of grant aid to two local organisations to help benefit the community.

The council has decided to donate £100 to the Okehampton Fairtrade Group, and a further £250 to the Two Moors Festival.

The Okehampton Fairtrade Group has been given £100 to promote the importance of Fairtrade products to help the developing world.

The group helped the town to gain Fairtrade status in 2010, following a year of campaigning and hard work to raise the profile of goods being sold in the UK which are produced fairly in developing countries.

Part of their efforts in the last two years is to have a stand at the Edwardian Evening, serving hot chocolate and discussing the merits of Fairtrade produce.

The Two Moors Festival received a grant to help bring the annual music festival to the town.

Each year the festival brings a day of classical concerts to All Saints Parish Church as part of its programme that incorporates parts of Dartmoor and Exmoor.

This year's event saw performances from world-renowned pianist Christoph Berner, violinist Natalie Lomeiko, cellist Marko Ylönen and baritone Stephan Loges.

Cllr Kay Bickley said: 'Speaking from a tourism trade point of view, events like this attract people to come to the town, and it is an event well worth showing our support to.'

Cllr Tony Leech agreed: 'It's a very well supported event overall, and I think any support we can offer it can only be a good thing.'

The council allocated £10,000 to be distributed to local organisations and charities earlier this year, following the election of town mayor Maureen McDonald. They regularly review grand aid applications. There will be a cap of a £500 maximum amount the council will grant from this £10,000 allocation, in an effort to spread the money as fairly and wisely as possible.

Organisations to benefit from the grant aid so far this year have been OCRA, Okehampton Battle of the Bands and the Get Changed Theatre Company.