TWO Wyre Forest charities will see in the new year with a smile – thanks to The Shuttle.

Kidz First, based at the Longbank Centre, Bewdley, will create its own courtyard garden for children and young people with disabilities and their service users to enjoy after receiving £8,720 from the Gannett Foundation.

A grant of £438.93 has also been given to Home-Start Wyre Forest, which provides support to parents of young children who are experiencing difficulties.

It will pay for essential training equipment for volunteers.

Gannett is the American owner of the Newsquest Media Group, which publishes The Shuttle. The foundation gives hundreds of thousands of pounds to good causes in the UK every year.

Kidz First chief executive, Sharon Weston, said: “The grant will enable us to provide a work project which students of all abilities will be involved in and will have the satisfaction of creating.

“This will benefit the local community from a sense of wellbeing in creating a beautiful space for us to enjoy.

“Enhancing and improving the Longbank Centre, making it a more pleasant place to visit, helps to attract more visitors and therefore helps to sustain the project for many others to enjoy it for years to come.”

According to the charity, the courtyard garden will incorporate sensory and structural features, including raised beds to grow fruit and vegetables.

It will also feature items from children’s wish lists such as a storyteller’s chair and auditorium, musical chimes and an apple press.

Kidz First aims to provide yearround inclusive play and social care services for children and young people with disabilities and complex health needs and their families.

The group promotes inclusion through supporting friendship and access to leisure activities, supported work placements and transition for young people.

The courtyard garden project will begin in the new year and is expected to be completed by the spring.

For more information on Kidz First, call 01299 400655.

Joy for Home Start - Click here.