A PROJECT to install a loo in a village church is one of three projects in the Okehampton area benefiting from the latest handout of National Lottery funding.

St Mary’s Church in Belstone, Made-Well near Hatherleigh and Shumba Arts in Chagford are each receiving £10,000. They are among 61 community projects across Devon sharing more than £1-million from Awards for All, part of community projects pot from the Big Lottery Fund.

Simon Herbert, the treasurer of Belstone Parochial Church Council, said the £10,000 was the ‘icing on the cake’ for the church’s Cash for Khazi campaign, allowing it to hit its £32,000 target.

The PCC has been fundraising for three years to raise the cost of installing a toilet in the church vestry.

‘Without this funding, we would not be able to go ahead, it really is the icing on the cake,’ said Simon. ‘Basically, there are no public loos in the village at the moment, so this is going to be of great benefit to the congregation in the church. We have a few weddings and funerals where people have travelled a long way, and this will mean they have somewhere to go to the loo if they need to. It will also allow us to be open for concerts, which given that the acoustics are so good is something we would like to do.’

The project has also been supported by donations from the village hall, The Belstone Players, The Old School Tea Room where the staff have donated their tips and The Tors Inn in the village where there has been a collection box.

‘We have had three very different excellent concerts, a zumba afternoon, countless donations from local residents and two legacies from friends that have recently died,’ said Simon. ‘There have also been donations from 60th and 65th birthday parties, a pub quiz night, refreshment profits from a furniture sale and grants from the Claude Pike Family Trust, the All Churches Trust, Garfield Weston and Awards for All, part of the National Lottery.

‘In total we have raised just over £32,000 which is enough to pay for the project, but the real pleasure has been the overwhelming support and enthusiasm from the whole community in being able to realise the facility which will now benefit the church and the village for generations to come. Once a problem with tree roots and the waste pipe is overcome the work will be able to start.’

Also receiving £10,000 from the Big Lottery Fund is Chagford-based Shumba Arts, a small organisation specialising in African drumming, dancing and song.

There will also be two free community day events in April in Exeter (April 7) and Totnes (April 14), as well as being used to subsidise evening classes in drumming.

‘The lottery funding is allowing us to offer heavily subsidised African dance events in Exeter and Totnes. We’ll also be doing an eight-week course of evening classes for people who want to get into drumming,’ said Allan Kerr from the four-strong group.

‘No matter whether you are a complete beginner or an experienced drummer or dancer, this is an opportunity to come and participate, to learn new rhythms and dances and to be part of a group. There are so many reasons why people come to join our sessions, from wanting to keep mind and body fit and agile, to learning embodied wisdom from a different culture, to meeting new friends and learning new skills.’

A third organisation set to benefit with £10,000 from the National Lottery is Made-Well, a centre near Hatherleigh offering day opportunities for people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities or mental ill health. With a vegetable garden and animals, craft workshops and kitchens, the centre offers people to enjoy, experience and learn about horticulture, cookery, animal care, therapeutic arts and countryside management.

‘The lottery funding means that we will be able to expand what we can offer people and run courses which are different from the activities we normally run,’ said Laura Feaver from Made-Well.

Taught by a group of local tutors, the new Branching Out courses all have an environmental theme running through them, with the first one covering the hot topic of recycling.

Students are learning how our waste products can affect the environment and will look at ways we can all cut down on waste. Later in the course the students will get creative and make some amazing art and craft items from plastic bottles, cardboard tubes and pieces of plastic collected from Widemouth Bay on the north Devon coast.

Other courses throughout the year will focus on how to grow wild trees, photography, environmental art and drama.