There were cheers and tears aplenty yesterday as we handed out vital lifelines to three local charities.

The Gannett Foundation, part of the Oxford Mail’s parent company, is giving a total of more than £25,000 to the campaign for a memorial bell at the Carterton memorial garden, the Blackbird Leys Adventure Playground and the Oxford Food Bank.

The three were the successful applicants for grants from the foundation and Oxford Mail editor Simon O’Neill said: “We are so pleased to have been able to help this many worthy causes.

“These are hard times for charities in the UK, so it’s a privilege to lend a helping hand to groups that will directly benefit local people.”

The first grant of £9,000 will go towards a 644lb bell at the Memorial Garden in Norton Way, Carterton, taking the fund to within £2,000 of its £18,000 target.

Troops have been repatriated to RAF Brize Norton since September 1, and four were brought back on Thursday alone.

Royal British Legion Oxfordshire chairman Mike Henderson said he was “overwhelmed” with the money.

He said: “I was absolutely 100 per cent gobsmacked, I was totally speechless.

“I can’t even find the words of joy that I feel when I got the news. But there were tears in my eyes.

“We now just need one last push and we can have the bell in place after Christmas.”

A grant of £10,000 was given to pay for a new refrigeration unit at the Oxford Food Bank in West Oxford.

Their volunteer drivers deliver unused food from supermarkets and wholesalers to city charities daily.

Director Robin Aitken said: “On behalf on the food bank, a very heartfelt thanks to the Gannett Foundation because the money they are giving will have an important impact on what we do.

“It’ll be of direct benefit to the poorest people of Oxford.”

Committee members at the Blackbird Leys Adventure Playground said their £6,590 grant brought a new “lease of life”.

Secretary Sue Price said: “It was amazing news. It’s just beautiful because it allows us to get going.

“We’ve rung the electricity company and told them to turn it all back on because we’re coming back.”

The 36-year-old playground closed in December 2009 and struggled to reopen due to financial concerns.

On Thursday, September 8, the body of a fallen soldier made its way from RAF Brize Norton, through Carterton, to Oxford.

More than 4,000 people lined the route to pay their respects to Sergeant Barry Weston, the first serviceman to be repatriated to Brize Norton since 2007.

Since then, nine other servicemen have made the journey past their families at a memorial garden in Norton Way.

Now a campaign for a memorial bell to toll as the cortege approaches has reached the final stages, thanks to the £9,000 grant from the Gannett Foundation.

Lee Mackie, whose 21-year-old son Jason died in Afghanistan in 2009, said: “I was totally elated when I heard the news, it was just wonderful.

“People have been incredible anyway with their generosity, I couldn’t believe it, and this puts us so close to our goal.”

Mrs Mackie came up with the idea for the bell after watching ceremonies at Royal Wootton Bassett, where people used to congregate to pay their respects, when bodies were repatriated through RAF Lyneham.

She said: “I hope this will complete the memorial garden. I hope it will be the final touch and I hope it will make a difference to the families.”

Royal British Legion Oxfordshire chairman Mike Henderson said: “To me, once this bell is up and everything is in place, the whole thing will be complete.

“The tolling of the bell will start as the procession comes towards the memorial garden to mark the start of the silence.

“It will not only be a signal, but will offer dignity to the soldiers and their families. And it will be something we can all be proud of.”

Organisers estimate they now need to raise another £2,000 towards the cost.

They hope the total may be reached on December 11, when members of the Parachute Regiment and the Royal Marines will march along the repatriation route.

The 644lb bell will be cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which cast Big Ben at the Houses of Parliament.

The campaign has received some famous backing from Stephen Fry.

Mr Henderson added: “It’s just one final push now.”

To donate to the bell campaign, visit localgiving. com/memorialbellappeal The Blackbird Leys Adventure Playground has had a chequered past.

A favourite spot for the estate’s children for more than three decades, financial problems forced it to close in December 2009.

And, after months of campaigning to get it reopened, chairman Kieran Watson told residents in September it was now or never.

But thanks to their £6,590 from the Gannett Foundation and a new committee, the playground in Blackbird Leys Road looks set to open in April.

Secretary Sue Price, pictured in the white coat with other management committee members and volunteers, said: “I can’t tell you how amazing this money is to us.

“We’ve got a brilliant committee but we knew unless we had some money, there was little we could do.

“The project has been through a really bad patch, but it’s on the up now.”

The playground, which opened in 1976, had already been turned down for Big Lottery Fund money and cash from Oxfordshire County Council’s Big Society fund this year.

When reopened, it will cater for eight- to 13-year-olds with after-school clubs and weekend and holiday activities.

Committee members now hope the playground will reopen on April 16 next year, in time for the start of the summer term.

Mrs Price said: “In the meantime, we’ve got teams of volunteers coming in from local schools, colleges and residents to help. Today, we’ve got whole groups of people from the community coming along to help clear the playground.

“It’s an absolute joy that people are saying ‘yep, we want to do something’.”

The money will pay for all the paint and equipment needed to refurbish the playground, training for volunteers, and insurance costs.

It will also help out with the refurbishment of a parents’ area and equipment for an Olympic-themed event.

Mrs Price said: “We are so thankful. But we are also thankful to our chairman Kieran.

“Without him, none of us would have been inspired to get involved.”

Volunteers will be clearing the area today from 10am to 1pm.

For more than two years, the Oxford Food Bank has helped feed some of the city’s poorest families.

And now, thanks to £10,000 from the Gannett Foundation, it can keep food fresh for longer and help more people.

The money will pay for a new walk-in refrigeration unit at the charity’s depot in Lamarsh Road, West Oxford.

Director Robin Aitken – pictured left with fellow director David Cairns, centre, and volunteer Louis Spiteri – said: “We collect food from supermarkets and wholesalers that otherwise would be thrown away.

“We then distribute that food to charities around the city on a daily basis.”

The team of volunteer drivers at the food bank deliver the produce to 28 charities, from small lunch clubs to residential projects.

The Donnington Doorstep family centre alone estimated the food bank had saved it £22,000 from its budget in 2010.

Mr Aitken said: “This money is fantastic. The idea is to install a big refrigeration unit to keep food as fresh as we can.

“It’s a brilliant time for us because it means we can expand in as professional a way as possible.

“We are a small charity and are entirely run by volunteers. So our running costs are low, but it also means finding money for big projects like this is difficult.”

The retail value of food given away by the charity last year was up to £300,000.

The food is distributed by two volunteers each day, helped by students.

Mr Aitken said: “Like a lot of charities at the moment, we are living hand-to-mouth, which means news like this is fantastic.

“Our volunteers are a great team and most of them do it because they enjoy doing it.

“Hopefully this money means we can continue to help Oxford’s poorest families for a long time to come.”