A NEW fund offering small grants of up to £300 is now available to community groups in West Devon. The funding is being offered through Westden?s Communities in Action project, which has established a £2,000 community chest to support projects in the local area. Communities in Action will make grants of between £1 and £300 to projects which need ?seed? funding to help secure an overall funding package or who are unable to secure funding from other providers. Projects will need to fit within the criteria and benefit communities rather than individuals. Village halls, residents groups, playschemes, village shops and bellringers have been helped by the fund in the past. Project manager Clare Williamson Cary said: ?We know that a great many local schemes struggle to get going for the sake of just a few hundred pounds which the larger funders are often unable to provide. ?We hope this new pot of money will encourage initiatives which will have a real benefit to their communities especially where they address local problems of rural isolation or social exclusion.? For more information contact 0845 345 5077.