CHARITIES in Colchester have been making use of cash grants received by the Gazette’s parent company, Gannett.

Headway Essex, Colchester Phoenix Amateur Swimming Club, and Colchester Korban Project have all received a share of the Cash for Charities Grant, which is run by the Gannett Foundation.

Colchester Phoenix Amateur Swimming Club, which runs pool sessions for those with disabilities, received a grant of £1,758.69 in December last year.

Explaining what the money has gone towards, chairwoman Theresa Higgins – who is also a former Colchester mayor – said the swimming club has bought communication aids to help disabled swimmers through sessions.

She said: “Some of our swimmers have physical disabilities, but we have more and more children with complex needs.

“A lot of our money has gone towards SwimPix, and we have paid for a swimming teacher to make special swimming cards because they are not available commercially.

“Some of our swimmers can communicate, some can’t – and sometimes they can communicate but they can’t tell you what they want to do.

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“[Now], they can choose from the pictures – it helps them all.

“For a lot of our swimmers, it’s their only recreation time and chance to be free of their wheelchairs and crutches.”

Headway Essex, which helps adults who have suffered life-changing head injuries, received £1,676.89 from the Cash for Charities grant.

The trust and grants manager, Jo Hockey, said the money helped keep the charity afloat after much of its income was wiped out during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

She said: “The pandemic restricted our ability to fundraise – so many of our events were cancelled and we rely on them to be able to provide the service that we do.

“The money helped ensure we could continue to provide that service at a time when our client group were really struggling to cope with brain injuries, and the isolation the lockdown imposed on them as well.

“That feeling of being included and not being alone was really important.”

Colchester Korban Project, which received £940.70, is putting the money towards a newly-refurbished bathroom, which is expected to be fitted later this summer.