COMMUNITY groups in the Wear Valley and Teesdale are sharing a £1,500 windfall from Co-op shoppers.

Money from the North-Eastern and Cumbrian Co-op's Community Dividend Fund has been given to four projects chosen by the group's South West Durham area committee.

Teesdale Credit Union, in Barnard Castle, is getting £280 to fund a training course for its 12 directors, called Building a Better Business, run by the Learning Skills Council.

A £500 grant to the Auckland Youth and Community Centre will buy equipment to support a lunchtime drop-in project for 40 young people on Bishop Auckland's Woodhouse Close Estate.

WRECASS, in Wolsingham, will use its £500 to help develop a community garden in the grounds of the primary school.

The Four Clocks Project, in Bishop Auckland, will receive £300 to buy tools to maintain its building, a converted Methodist chapel in Newgate Street. The building houses support, welfare and advice agencies, and a caf, and serves as a base for meetings.

Donations from Co-op customers go into the fund, which has given £140,000 to community projects across the region over the past 12 months.

Application forms are available in Co-op stores, or telephone 0191-477 0291 for details.