Fuel and lubricants distributor Certas Energy has handed grants of £15,000 each to North Shields cancer support charity and an Orkney island trust.

The money has been awarded from its Community Bloom Fund and based on a public vote, with votes received from as far as America, Australia and New Zealand.

Live Well with Cancer will use its grant to build an accessible therapy room in the garden at its centre.

The charity’s founder Maureen Elliott said: “We still can't quite believe we've won! To have our community get behind us in such an incredible way so we have access to this £15,000 of funding is absolutely overwhelming. We're incredibly grateful to Certas Energy for giving us this opportunity.”

Meanwhile, Orkney Shapinsay Development Trust will use if money to transform land around the island’s historic Gas House into a community garden.

“The Gas House is a beautiful building in a wonderful spot, but the land has been a bit of an eyesore for a long time,” said Lisa-Marie Muir, the Trust’s community development officer.

“To finally make something of it, and to have a place we can take pride in again, will mean so much to everyone on the island.”

The firm’s Community Bloom Fund is now in its second year.

Niki Holt, Certas Energy’s marketing director, said: "The Community Bloom Fund was set up to support projects making a real difference in their local area, and this year's winners are a perfect example of that.

“From a garden therapy room in North Shields to a community garden on a small Orkney island, both projects show what can happen when a community comes together and votes for the cause that matters to them."

Ceras Energy is part of the DCC plc group of companies and has a national network of more than 130 depots, 900 tankers and more than 800 retail forecourts under the Gulf brand.

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