EIGHT Oxford groups are to share a council cash pot which will help with activities including car sharing.

Oxford City Council’s east area parliament had allocated nearly £23,000 to two schemes – one for work at Meadow Lane and one for an East Oxford newsletter – but could not spend the money before the end of the year.

As new regulations mean no cash can be carried over from year to year, the majority of organisations applying for grants from the parliament committee were approved at a meeting on Wednesday.

Among the groups receiving cash will be Commonwheels, a car sharing club which has six vehicles in East Oxford.

At an earlier meeting, £4,000 was pledged towards the cost of six or seven more cars, and on Wednesday councillors agreed to add a further £4,000.

Cliff Jordan, secretary of Oxcar, a local group which has campaigned for the introduction of car clubs in the city, said: “This money is very helpful in allowing us to expand to meet the demand.

“In its first year, the scheme has been very successful and there are lots of people in the area who want to use it.”

Some vehicles, which must be fitted with smart card technology, will be leased from residents and others bought.

Donnington Community Association was awarded £2,608, to add to an earlier grant of £4,000, for kitchen extraction equipment at Donnington Community Centre in Townsend Square.

Association chairman Bill Baker said: “This is very significant.

“We’ve started doing meals for pensioners, but environmental health told us our kitchen was not safe in terms of healthy and safety and things needed to be done.

“We couldn’t afford to do it ourselves, so we are very pleased with this money.”

Barracks Lane Community Garden will receive £2,000 for web development, a newsletter and a volunteer database development.

Treasurer Kate Jury said: “The project is entirely run by volunteers and to have the garden open regularly we have to co-ordinate the garden guardians.

“Since we relaunched our website it has been really successful – we’ve been getting 12,000 to 15,000 visits a month. We will put some more resources in to make it even better.”

The full list of grants is:

African Caribbean Kultural Heritage Initiative: £1,766 for rent and premises costs

Commonwheels: £4,000 towards the cost of new cars

Donnington Community Association: £2,608 for kitchen extraction equipment

Trax: £1,242 towards two outreach courses for vulnerable young people

Divinity Road Area Residents’ Association: £599 for speakers for on-street film screenings

Barracks Lane Community Garden: £2,000 for web development, a newsletter and volunteer database.

SS Mary and John Parochial Church Council: £300 for maintenance of churchyard lights

Magdalen Road Studios: £2,255 for Art Week activities

To be decided under delegated powers: Children’s International Arts Organisation: Up to £5,000 towards the Ark Project Unique Bodies Gym: Up to £3,000 towards gym facilities for local youths