Charities and groups in Dorset which improve the quality of people’s lives have been awarded grants by Dorset Community Foundation.

A total of £10,000 has been distributed to 12 organisations from the Nature Heals Seed Fund, which was launched in partnership with Dorset High Sheriff Sibyl Fine King.

One of the beneficiaries is Chat Café, which is using its £1,000 grant to take its lonely and isolated members out on nature walks.

The group has a network of 25 cafes across the area with ‘happy to chat’ tables for people to befriend others. The group also runs 11 chat clubs in cafes. The first walk has already taken place with 16 members enjoying a stroll and a boat trip around Christchurch and Mudeford.

“The grant is amazing,” said organiser Anne Anderson. “It is allowing us to organise these walks, which are so good for people who really lack the confidence to go out. Being out in nature really restores their soul and you can see them blossom.”

The group, which has come into contact with more than 1,200 people in just five months, is already planning another walk and bus trip, as well as a beach get-together. “We have a wide range of needs, some with disabilities, some with learning difficulties and others who are just desperately lonely,” said Mrs Anderson. “This grant will help us bring them together.”

Transition Town Poole will use a £1,000 grant to run gardening workshops for people struggling with their mental health at Tatnam Organic Patch, a one-acre community garden and wildlife site in Oakdale.

The workshops, which will be open to all local people, will feature photography, drawing, plant identification, sowing flowers and making plant labels.

“These workshops will use natural materials and will bring into focus the wildlife, plantings and calm, natural environment of the garden,” said staff member Manuela Boeckle.

The Big Yellow Bus Garden Project community garden at Shillingstone has been awarded £1,000 for adaptive tools, as well as items like kneelers and portable sunshades, to help older people and those with disabilities take part in horticultural activities.

West Bay Discovery Centre has been awarded £500 to run children’s art workshops to help them appreciate the geology and the fossils of the cliffs and beaches at West Bay.

Dorset Community Foundation director Grant Robson said: “We are very thankful for Sybil’s support for this fund and delighted that her generosity will fuel so much good work.

“These are all small projects but they are having a huge impact.”

Find out more about the work of Dorset Community Foundation at dorsetcommunityfoundation.org.