A PLAYSCHEME, a zombie film project and a theatre festival are among the youth projects bidding for cash from Oxfordshire County Council’s Chill-Out Fund.

The council has a pot of £100,000 to spend on projects aimed at children and young people aged eight to 19, who can bid for grants of up to £5,000.

Among the schemes seeking funds this month are a summer playscheme, lighting controls for junior services at a church, and new play equipment.

In all, the organisations are seeking £31,807.80, and council officers have recommended cabinet member for children and the voluntary sector Louise Chapman should hand out £19,209.80.

Among those recommended to receive cash is Film Oxford.

The organisation is seeking £4,680 towards an ambitious project working with two groups of NEETS – school leavers who are not in employment, education or training – and two groups of children and young people with learning disabilities.

Production development manager Gary Shenton said: “It’s very important to get the funding because our main cash source, First Light, is dependent on match funding.

“We might have to pull certain parts of the programme otherwise and if we had to pull anything our main funding could be in jeopardy.”

The Chill-Out Fund cash would go towards training and film-making in Bicester with the NEET group based at the Courtyard Centre. Professional filmmakers would help them develop scripts and technical skills.

The money would also help pay for the screening of the film they hope to produce – Mindless Consumption, a docudrama about excess played out through a zombie backdrop.

Banbury Foyer has applied for £3,597 for a video diary project but no grant has been recommended.

Base 33, in Witney, is seeking £5,000 towards its summer project but the officers’ recommendation is for it not to receive funding.

The other groups are all in line to get a slice of the money.

If agreed, Bladon Junior Church would get £1,900 for its lighting control replacement, Combe Parish Council would get £5,000 for its play park and Cutteslowe Community Association would receive £2,500 for its summer playscheme.

The suggested grant for The Nasio Trust weekly five-a-side football training in Abingdon is £2,329.80, and Yarnton Parish Council looks set to get £1,800 for the Yarnton Youth Bus.

Pegasus Theatre in East Oxford is recommended to receive £1,000 of the £5,000 it has applied for, which would go towards the planned Mesh Oxford Youth Arts International Festival.

The county council will make a final decision on Monday.