Community groups in Oxfordshire are celebrating after securing hundreds of thousands of pounds of Lottery cash.

Five groups have been awarded grants totalling more than £787,000 from the National Lottery's Community Fund.

Organisations benefiting from the windfall are the Donnington Doorstep Family Centre, in Oxford, Chinnor-based Children in Touch 1978, Banbury District Housing Coalition, Home Start Bicester and the Woodcote Village Hall Management Committee.

The largest award of £290,266 has gone to Home Start Bicester.

The money will be used to set up and run the scheme, which recruits volunteers to support families with children under the age of five. Mrs Gwen Badland, a member of the Bicester Home Start Committee, said: "We are delighted for the families we constantly meet who feel they would benefit from such a befriending scheme to provide them with emotional and practical support in their homes.

"As Bicester has grown over the last four years, we have noticed there are a lot of people who are isolated because they are new to the area."

Now the committee has secured funding to run the scheme for three years, it is looking for someone to recruit and train volunteers and for premises in the town from which to operate.

A pioneering scheme that has helped hundreds of people in north Oxfordshire find a home has also received a £116,083 Lottery boost.

The Rent Deposit Guarantee Scheme, launched eight years ago by the Banbury District Housing Coalition, helps people on benefit or low incomes who cannot afford deposits demanded by private landlords. The Lottery cash will fund a full-time worker for three years to provide support for landlords and tenants.

Mike Blount, director of Banbury Homes Housing Association, which runs the scheme, said: "This is excellent news. The scheme has already helped more than 500 people into accommodation, and now its work can continue and grow."

A drop-in family centre, set up in Oxford 17 years ago, has been awarded £72, 913.

The Donnington Doorstep Family Centre, off Donnington Bridge Road, provides a meeting place for parents and play opportunities for children every weekday from 10am to 4pm.

The money will be used to buy new equipment and fund play workers' salaries and general running costs.

Acting co-ordinator Sue Cocker said: "This funding has made the difference between the centre staying open and closing."

Parents whose children are diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder will benefit from more support after Children In Touch 1978, in Chinnor, received more than £131,000.

The charitable trust runs activities, after-school clubs and residential holidays across Oxfordshire for people aged from five to 19 with the condition.

Trustee Sheila Coates said: "Autism is on the increase and is a very disabling condition, which parents work hard to come to terms with."

Young people in Woodcote, south Oxfordshire, could have a dedicated youth centre and sound-proof music room by the end of the year, thanks to the Lottery. The village hall committee has been given a £177,203 grant to convert and extend the building.