A POT of £3,000 raised by Santa Claus was dished out to community groups and organisations around Witney.

The cash was collected by the Witney Lions Santa Float, which each year sees Father Christmas tour the town, meeting children and collecting donations for community projects.

Representatives from seven of the eight groups successful in their applications to the Witney Lions Dream Scheme picked up their grants at The Blue Boar, in Market Square, last Tuesday.

The successful organisations were 1st Witney Boys' Brigade, Assisted Reading for Children, The Henry Box School, Hanborough Playing Fields Association, Freeland Pre-School, Doing it Together to Overcome, Witney Woodland Volunteers and a group of Scouts venturing to Kenya later this year.

Colin Dickenson, a lieutenant with 1st Witney Boys' Brigade, said the group would use the £300 they received to buy a new laptop, which would help with establishing and maintaining a new website.

He said: "It's really very kind of the Lions. They're a very worthwhile organisation. I saw them going through the streets over Christmas with the float so I know they didn't get the money easily.

"We've had series of websites over the years but we need something a bit cutting edge."

The laptop the group purchases with the cash from the Lions will be used to update a new website, for which the group is also raising funds.

Witney Woodland Volunteers will use the £200 it received to buy bird feeders and tools for its work maintaining Deer Park Wood.

Treasurer Roger Hepworth said: "We're most grateful to the Lions for providing funds for this work. It's very useful, bearing in mind that we're an organisation consisting purely of volunteers and do rely on grants.

"We'll use the money in our work maintaining Deer Park Wood, buying bird boxes, bat boxes, and tools for our volunteers."

Witney Lions president John Dickinson said he enjoyed presenting the cheques and said it was very rewarding to see how much difference this money would make to people in the area.