Three lucky Croydon charities have scooped the jackpot in the latest round of handouts from the national lotteries charities board.

Croydon Voluntary Action, homeless charity Nightwatch and the Tower Residents Group received a total of £180,000 between them.

The CVA project picked up the biggest bonus with a £106,277 cheque that will help the borough's voluntary groups improve their management skills and gain access to a wider range of funding sources. Spread over three years the grant will be used for office equipment, running costs and to employ a project worker.

Nightwatch will use its £35,000 slice over three years to help the "Settling In" programme to give support to the former homeless when they move into new accommodation. Spokesman Jad Adams joked: "It could be us and was! It's our third time lucky after applying for money and is a lot of money for a charity like ours. It helps us ease people's passage into new accommodation and the money can go directly to help them because we don't have full-time staff and expensive overheads."

The money will help furnish flats with basic equipment, bedding and kitchen equipment

The Tower Residents Group's numbers have also come up with a £38,775 one-off cash injection to build a safe play area for children. Roy Addis chairman of the South Croydon group was delighted that its application had been looked upon favourably. He explained in true lottery winners' style: "I didn't think we would be that lucky. It was a surprise that we got the grant as we are only a very small spoke in a very big wheel. It will give our children security and safety and we are absolutely delighted."

All three grants are part of a £100 million package of awards to 1,000 organisations across the country.

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