A BUILDING society that last year gave grants to Keighley and South Craven groups is inviting new applications for cash.

The Skipton Building Society is urging groups across Yorkshire to apply for a share of £82,000 from its Grassroots Giving Scheme.

The organisation last year gave out £26,000 to good causes across the county, including Dementia Friendly Keighley and Sutton-in-Craven CC Juniors (The Vikings).

Airedale and Wharfedale District Amateur Swimming Association were also among the 52 groups that received money after receiving votes from local supporters.

The winners, who each received about £500, were chosen by public vote after being shortlisted from almost 1,000 community organisations across the country.

More groups won the hearts and minds of the public from Yorkshire than any other region across the UK.

The top performing group of the whole competition was Burley in Wharfedale Playground Project, which received over 800 votes.

Now in its fifth year, Grassroots Giving was set up to support small community groups which might not normally attract any sort of funding.

In 2017, a total of £82,000 has been made available to reward 164 groups.

Applications opened this week (May 2) and can be made online by visiting skiptongrg.co.uk.

The groups which make it to the shortlisting stage in August are then profiled by Skipton, the UK’s fourth largest building society, and then the public will be asked to vote for who they think is the most deserving.

The Yorkshire groups that one grants last year are all run for their local communities, managed by volunteers and are largely self-funded.

As part of its Grassroots Giving initiative, Skipton Building Society has also launched a series of free resources covering a range of key areas for community groups, which can all be downloaded for free at skiptongrg.co.uk/free-resources.

The site provides a social network specifically to help community and voluntary groups get better connected, acting as a ‘hub’ for all Grassroots Giving followers, winners and past/future applicants, to enable knowledge sharing and networking.

Visit twitter.com/SkiptonBS_GrG or facebook.com/skiptongrg for further information.