FORGET what you hear about the "cuts".

For charities in Banbury, there is finally some good news to shout about.

Banbury Town Council has announced it will be trebling the amount of grant funding it is offering groups this year.

It will give away £60,000 to local charities in 2016/17, compared to about £20,000 last year.

Two years ago Oxfordshire charity Style Acre, which supports adults with learning disabilities, received a £10,000 boost from the council.

The money allowed them to move into a new day support centre in Butchers Row in May last year, and led to the opening of a new second hand bookshop earlier this month.

Fundraising officer Philippa Stannard praised the council for increasing their funding in the face of countywide cuts.

She said: "The council has been really generous over the past year. As small charities it can sometimes be difficult to get attention, but they have embraced us and helped us to achieve success.

"The money meant we could turn a disused, insect-infested nightclub into somewhere we can offer our support to local people."

Other charities to benefit from the council's grant funding include Age UK Oxfordshire, the Katharine House Hospice and the 1460 Squadron Banbury Air Cadets.

Ms Stannard added: "The difficulty with us is that we haven't got a big marketing department so we have to work closely with our community.

"That's worked very well for us and it's an important part of the way we operate."

Last year the charity, which operates around the county, was given a grant of £271,874 from the Big Lottery Fund.

At full capacity the daily support hub, previously the nightclub Le Royale, can support 80 or 90 adults.

The second hand bookshop, also in Butchers Row, helps give work experience to those who use the service.

Banbury Town Council leader Kieron Mallon said: "This council has proved yet again it can be trusted with taxpayers' money.

"While councils across the country are increasing their bills, we are not burdening taxpayers with extra costs.

"With charities being called on to help in more and more aspects of public life, our increased grants will benefit a greater number of people in need of assistance."

The council has also announced there will be no increase this year in its share of the council tax bill.

It will be the sixth year running the figure has not gone up.

At the town council's budget meeting on Tuesday last week [[JAN19]] it was also agreed they would take over the responsibility of cutting grass verges from the county council.