GREEN-FINGERED volunteers are being invited to apply up to £500 of funding for schemes to spruce-up their local areas.

The “It’s Your Neighbourhood” campaign, a joint project between Durham County Council and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), has the money available for everything from planting flowers to litter picks.

It was launched on Tuesday, December 2 and is supported by members of the council’s civic pride team who can offer advice and loan equipment as well as get schools involved.

Funding up to £500 is available for 15 projects and is available for groups across County Durham.

The campaign builds on the recent success in Britain in Bloom in which Durham City and Sedgefield were both awarded gold.

The Durham City bid was supported by the Durham in Bloom group, while Sedgefield’s campaign was led by Sedgefield Town Council and Sedgefield in Bloom and supported by the county council.

Pauline Walker, senior civic pride officer at Durham County Council, said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for community groups to make a positive change to the place where they live, work or spend their leisure time.”

Application forms and terms and conditions are available to download at www.durham.gov.uk/itsyourneighbourhood, by calling the civic pride team on 03000 261 000 or emailing civicpride@durham.gov.uk

The closing date for applications is Friday, January 30, 2015.