FOUR community groups from Basingstoke have been handed grants totalling £6,500 by Lloyds Bank Community Fund.

St Michael’s Hospice, Basingstoke Consortium Ltd, Odiham Cottage Hospital and National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society (NASS) Basingstoke branch all received awards of between £500 and £3,000.

As previously reported, the groups all vied for public votes to secure the cash.

The hospice, in Aldermaston Road, secured the most votes and received £3,000, with Basingstoke Consortium Ltd picking up £2,000.

Odiham Cottage Hospital was handed £1,000, with NASS picking up £500.

The hospice will put the cash towards the purchase of an ultrasound machine, which will be used to look for and treat fluid build-up in the abdominal cavity and lungs, to enable staff to manage patients’ symptoms and reduce pain and breathlessness.

Iain Cameron, director of income generation, said: “We are elated to have been voted as winners of the Lloyds Bank Community Fund.

“St Michael’s Hospice is a local charity, serving local people, this success shows the charity’s importance to the people of Basingstoke and North Hampshire.”