COUNTY Durham community groups are celebrating after their numbers came up on the National Lottery.

Twenty-two organisations, in the Chester-le-Street, Derwentside, Durham, Easington and Sedgefield areas, are sharing £61,824 of Lottery money given through the Awards for All programme.

The awards range from a few hundred pounds up to almost £5,000 and will enable the recipients to carry out a wide variety of projects.

Bournmoor Residents Action Group, near Chester-le-Street, is getting £4,994 to carry out a village appraisal to raise residents' awareness of local facilities and activities.

Oxhill Youth Club, near Stanley, has been awarded £4,419 to improve its table tennis facilities for female and disabled players.

The £4,140 that Durham City Rugby Club has been given will be used to set up a new section for girls aged 12 to 15.

Chimps Limited, an Easington after-school club for youngsters, aged four to 14, is getting £3,201 towards the cost of computer equipment and training workshops for staff and volunteers as well as improving facilities.

Newton Aycliffe Rugby Club's junior section will use its £4,300 award to train coaches, buy equipment for its new under-14 and under-12 sections, and carry out liaison work with local schools.

Pat Lowes, senior awards officer for Awards for All, said the difference these grants made to small groups was enormous.