JOBS and services have been saved thanks to lottery cash grants handed out to community groups.

The SPACE bus, which works with young people in Burnley and Padiham, received £208,158 to continue its work for the next three years.

The money will be used for staff and resources, to provide activities for teenagers including arts and crafts, numeracy and literacy support and advice on sexual health and substance misuse.

The project aims to increase young people’s self-esteem and confidence, to improve their well-being and reduce anti-social behaviour.

Lynne Blackburn from Participation Works North West, the organisation which runs the bus, said: “It’s fantastic news for us.

“We’ve been trying so hard these last few months and been unsuccessful. If we hadn’t got this money we’d have had to lose staff and reduce services.

“The young people are really happy that we’ve got the money. We’ve been going since 2007 and we get up to 70 or 80 young people a night on the bus.”

Meanwhile, Home-Start Pendle and Ribble Valley was awarded £222,352 to support vulnerable and isolated families with children aged five to 11 to improve their health and prospects.

Home-Start already works with families with under-fives, but the money will allow the organisation to continue its work with older children.

Anyone interested in volunteering for Home-Start can call 01282 690536 or the Ribble Valley office on 01200 443827. The money is from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme.