TEENAGERS at Pegasus Theatre are among those celebrating their successful bids to the Oxfordshire County Council’s Chill-Out Fund.

The cash awards totalling £19,209 have now been rubber stamped by councillors at a meeting last week and voluntary groups, charities and youth projects have now learned whether they have benefited from the £100,000 cash pot.

Sam Flanakin, a pupil at Matthew Arnold School, helped to write Pegasus Theatre’s bid which landed £1,000 of the £5,000 applied for to help finance its forthcoming Mesh Festival.

The 15-year-old said: “I’m ecstatic and really happy that we got the money because it will go towards helping finance Mesh, which is an international arts and youth theatre festival.

“It is bringing different groups from other countries to Oxford between July 19 and 29 this year.There will be workshops throughout the 10 days and a grand finale performance.”

The group has already secured another funding grant and sponsorship to help pay for travel and accommodation costs of other young performers taking part.

Sam said: “I’ve helped to organise a group coming over from Thailand and have helped raise £750 they need for their accommodation.”

Among other schemes to benefit from the Chill-Out fund is Film Oxford which has bagged £4,680 to help pay for a zombie film making project involving young people not in education or training and those with learning disabilities.

The grant will finance professional filmmakers to help them learn to develop scripts and technical skills and a premier for the movie Mindless Consumption.

Bladon Junior Church was given £1,900 to pay for a replacement lighting control system, Combe Parish Council got £5,000 for its play park and Cutteslowe Community Association received £2,500 for its summer play scheme.

The Nasio Trust weekly five-a-side football training in Abingdon was awarded £2,329.80 and Yarnton Parish Council was given £1,800 to help pay for the Yarnton Youth Bus.

Bids by Banbury Foyer, to pay for a video diary project, and Base 33, in Witney, to finance its summer project, were unsuccessful.