A DIDCOT charity took people with mental health problems on a relaxing day trip to the Cotswold Wildlife Park, thanks to a grant from the Oxford Mail’s parent company, the Gannett Foundation.

The foundation is the charitable section of Gannett Co Inc, the owners of Newsquest, and twice a year it hands out financial awards for projects which usually merit grants of between £5,000 and £10,000.

Groups across the county have until 5pm on Friday, October 21, to put in a bid.

The Gannett grants, which total more than £4m in the UK, are designed to support projects helping a broad section of the population.

Gannett wants to reward organisations that have a lasting, positive effect on the community, but applicants must be registered charities.

Olivier Guillot, manager of the Restore centre in Sandringham Road on the Fleet Meadow estate in Didcot, which supports about 55 people a week who have mental health problems, urged other organisations to apply for Gannett grants.

He said: “Two years ago we got a Gannett grant for £15,000 and bought a new 15-seater Ford Transit minibus which we use to pick people up from their homes and bring them to the centre, where we have a garden.

“A few weeks ago we were able to take people on a trip to Cotswold Wildlife Park near Burford which they thoroughly enjoyed.

“The minibus works very well and is a big improvement on our previous minibus which kept breaking down.

“People come to our centre from across south Oxfordshire, which is a big area so we need a good van so that we can pick people up.

“We first invested in a minibus in 2003 but with the help of the Gannett grant in 2009 we were able buy a much better minibus.

“The demands on our services are growing all the time so our next project is to try to build a bigger centre.”

Restore also runs a centre in Manzil Way, East Oxford.

Oxford Mail editor Simon O’Neill said: “We have had a good response so far but there is still time to make an application.

“We would like a wide range of Oxfordshire charitable organisations to bid for the grants.”

* To apply, get a form from oxfordmail.co.uk/ news/community/ gannettfoundation