A VOLUNTEER group set on sprucing up Bicester North train station is among the worthy winners who have been handed thousands of pounds from Bicester Village.

Friends of Bicester North Station have been awarded £1,000 from the designer outlet in Pingle Drive for plants and tools to help care for the green spaces at the station.

The gift was part of the Bicester Village Make a Difference campaign – a new initiative dishing out £22,000 to local causes – £1,000 for every year the shopping Village has been open.

Talking about the win, Friends of Bicester North Station volunteer Bea Foster said: "It is great news to be awarded £1,000 from Bicester Village's Make a Difference Fund.

"Alongside a £500 donation from Bicester Town Council we hope to get hi-vis vests, leaflets, a website and noticeboard initially, plus we are hoping for plants, tools and a shed thanks to Wyevale Garden Centre."

The funding windfall will help the group, which formed earlier this year, to continue tidying up the flower beds and green spaces around the station buildings.

For more than two decades, Bicester Village has worked to support local projects and activities such as sponsoring schools, charities and sports teams as part of its annual community support programme.

The latest grant funding comes on top of that work and hoped to target groups based around Togetherness, Youth and Health.

Other winners included South Central Ambulance Service, Bicester Autism/ ADHD and Grassroots Bicester, as well as local cheerleading group Bicester ECU and the newly formed wellbeing group Forget Me Not.

Community relations director Miranda Markham said: "It is the first time we have run this type of initiative and we have been amazed at the response.

"It is truly humbling to meet so many organisations who are playing such a vital role in the community.

"We have given out 12 awards but we will also be reaching out to all the groups who have applied to see how we can help them going forward.

"We also added another £10,000 to the fund to meet the huge response.

"Through this fund, Bicester Village hopes to support new projects that seek to make a difference where it really matters in 2018, focusing on one of the three key themes."

All the winners will be invited to a night of celebrations with Bicester Village.