More than £2m has been awarded to 201 voluntary organisations, community groups, parish councils and charities across the county as part of Nottinghamshire County Council’s new Local Improvement Scheme.

Arts projects, new buildings, sports clubs, memorials, play schemes, services for older people, youth activities and information and advice services were included in the awards.

In Ashfield, Mansfield and Gedling, £476,958 has been awarded to 55 schemes, including £5,250 for Selston Parish Council to buy outdoor gym equipment; £2,000 for Age Concern Mansfield to provide a range of day facilities for elderly people; and £2,500 for Fountaindale School to launch a summer playscheme.

A further total of £412,000 has been awarded to four countywide schemes — Citizens Advice Broxtowe: Volunteering and Advice Nottinghamshire, Bassetlaw Community and Voluntary Service for its Nottinghamshire Together project, Central Nottinghamshire Mind: Mental Health Recovery Service and Home-Start Nottingham.

Coun Gordon Wheeler, vice-chairman of the Communities and Place Committee, at the council, said: “The scale of the interest, with more than 400 applications, highlights the great work being undertaken by charities and voluntary organisations across our county.”