A WEST Devon village will get a revamped, safe car park and an office to print the parish newsletter, as the Big Lottery Fund this week announced a grant of £39,408 to improve village life.
The grant from BIG's Reaching Communities programme will enable Petrockstowe to improve and expand its village hall and car park.
With this award, the local car park will be made safe for the community to get to the village hall, children's play area, church and chapel. The car park will be levelled to eliminate standing water and create a surface safe for older, young and disabled people to use.
In addition, an office extension to the village hall will be built to house printing and copying facilities for production of the free parish newspaper. The office will also provide printing and copying facilities and archival storage for important village documentation. The newspaper is currently produced in the hall's kitchen and documents are stored in bathroom cupboards.
William Luxton, chairman of Petrockstowe Parish Council, said: 'We were delighted to receive this grant. These are projects we have only been able to think about as the costs involved were simply too great for a small village like ours to meet.
'Now, thanks to the Big Lottery Fund, we can improve the facilities for the good of the village, something we never thought would be possible.'
Mark Cotton, the lottery's head of region for the South West, said: 'This project will make a positive difference to the village of Petrockstowe.
'With this Reaching Communities grant from BIG, the hall, the centre of village life, will be transformed, along with the car park, into a safe environment for the community which will encourage more people to use it. We are delighted to support this project to help a community in need.'
Under Reaching Communities, the Big Lottery Fund awards grants between £10,000 and £500,000 to projects that offer people better life chances, build stronger communities, develop improved rural and urban environments and improve health and well being.
The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out half the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
And the village hall in Petrockstowe is not the only organisation to benefit from the Lottery.
In the latest round of grants from the Lottery's Awards for All programme, Petrockstowe Cricket Club was awarded £5,058.
Beaford Arts was given £8,960 and Lewdown Cricket Club has received £6,265.
Mr Cotton said: 'As the summer approaches, it's good to see so many communities organising outdoor events and activities that will make such a difference to people, from talent festivals and events to gardening clubs.'