NORTH-East organisations have been awarded nearly £1m to create more than 1,200 childcare places, it was announced today.

The cash, from the National Lottery's New Opportunities Fund, is going to 11 projects in Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear and Teesside.

It brings the total given to North-East childcare providers to £7.8m, an amount which has supported 114 projects and created 16,750 places.

Among the recipients of the latest grant is a scheme led by South Tyneside Borough Council. It will create 76 after-school, holiday and year-round places for children aged three to 14.

South Tyneside councillor Ron Reynolds, lead member for lifelong learning, said: "The South Tyneside Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership is delighted to have been so successful in this consortium bid to the fund.

"It will give a real boost to the out-of-school provision available for the borough's parents and children in some of the authority's most deprived wards."

Another beneficiary is Tarka Ltd, based in Sedgefield, which has been granted £273,724 to create 73 before-school, 50 wraparound, 89 all-year-round and several more holiday places for County Durham children aged from three to 15.

This will be achieved by starting four new projects and expanding two existing projects.

New Opportunities Fund chief executive Stephen Dunmore said: "This grant programme brings peace of mind to many parents across the UK whose need to take up work, training or education opportunities is matched by their concern to ensure that their children are properly looked after.

"Out-of-school-hours childcare provision plays a vital role in the lives of children and their families, and is certainly not an optional extra."

The grant recipients are: Northumberland County Council £28,284, Hartlepool Borough Council £154,739, Middlesbrough Council £102,448, Newcastle City Council £14,663, Childcare Enterprise Limited, North Tyneside £10,220, Redcar and Cleveland Local Education Authority £51,900, Tarka Ltd, Sedgefield £273,724, Ashfield Nursery and Early Learning Centre, South Tyneside £40,027, South Tyneside Borough Council £81,482, Stockton Borough Council £199,122, and Trinity Youth Association, Wansbeck, Northumberland, £14,978