The Blandford-based brewery is to make some of the Community Chest grant funding available immediately. This is in order to prioritise emergency funds to voluntary organisations that have received support in the past two years and which may find themselves in real financial difficulty in the coming months. The remaining Community Chest funds, to be distributed later in the year, will focus on supporting voluntary and charity organisations through their recovery and resilience phase.

In line with this, H&W says it will be extending its deadline for applications both for grant funding from the Community Chest and to become a Pub Charity Partner. Local charities and community groups now have until Thursday 30 April to submit their applications.

Worthy causes can apply online for grants up to £5,000. Application forms can be downloaded via www.hall-woodhouse.co.uk/community-chest and then emailed to communitychest@hall-woodhouse.co.uk for consideration.

Mark Woodhouse, Hall & Woodhouse family director, commented, “In these strange times we feel that it is very important to try to help many of the voluntary organisations that we have supported in the past, to survive and continue their great work in our communities.”