AN 'INSPIRATIONAL' charity that provides after-school and holiday activities for more than 100 disabled children in Oxfordshire has scooped a £10,000 national award to help renovate its new premises.

The Let’s Play Project, based in Banbury, was awarded the money by financial services company OneFamily as part of its Community Awards.

The group has outgrown its current building in primary school, St. Mary’s, as a lack of space meant staff couldn’t offer all the activities they wanted to.

OneFamily customer Claire Dumbreck, who put Let’s Play forward for the award, said: “Let’s Play has an overwhelming impact on the lives of the children it supports, providing a happy and safe place where they can meet and have fun.

“The staff that work at the group are an inspiration. Not only do they care for the children but they support their families too, and securing this new building will enable them to help even more people across the area.

“We can’t thank the community enough for voting for the group. It was fantastic to see everyone rallying around and sharing the story about the great work Let’s Play do, and every single person that voted has made a huge difference to the lives of the children that attend.”

Guy French, corporate and customer strategy director at OneFamily said: “Let’s Play is a fantastic organisation and it’s great to know that even more children will benefit from its services because of the Community Award.

“The projects that the awards support are all very special to our customers and make a positive difference in their local communities.

“We are a customer-owned business and for us it’s not just about offering financial products and services. The OneFamily Foundation is a way that we give something back to our customers, and each year we give hundreds of thousands of pounds to causes that matter to them most."

Winning the award now means the project can relocate to a larger building at Twyford, south of Banbury, in January 2018.

The funding will be used to revamp the site, including fitting a new floor and building a kitchen to serve meals and refreshments during play sessions.

The increased space also means that the group can offer daytime activities to over 18s, as well as providing after school and holiday care to 20 more children.

This year’s OneFamily Foundation awards saw customers nominating projects to win £5,000, £10,000 or £25,000 across four categories.