THE group behind a hands-on educational programme are in line to win a four-figure cash jackpot.

Trustees of Whitchurch Silk Mill are in the running for a £5,000 grant to help them lay on their Learning Together programme and allow schools across the south to visit the site.

But now they need your help in their bid to scoop the money.

Trustees are making one final plea for residents to back their bid for funding from Engage Mutual Assurance, which has set aside £1m for customers to improve their lives and communities.

The Silk Mill is one of 153 groups vying for public votes with its Learning Together scheme currently sitting pretty in the top 20.

But with grants only dished out to the top seven entrants, trustees are making a last-ditch bid to sneak into the top seven before voting closes on November 17.

If the mill project wins the vote it will use the money to create a Victorian school room, replicating the conditions that existed when the mill employed children as young as 12 for long and dangerous work.

The project would enable the mill to work with local schools to create an engaging hands-on education session to meet the needs of the National Curriculum.

Noel Privett, an Engage Mutual Assurance customer, who applied for the funding from the Mutual’s Foundation, said: “The service that Whitchurch Silk Mill provides for schools is quite traditional, leading tours for groups of children around the mill and offering them craft sessions.

“The mill would like to engage with more schools and increase the number of visitors to the mill.

“This is vital to the work they do as they need to inspire the next generation about the mill’s past and the tradition of silk weaving and also ensure the mill is busy with visitors during quieter times of the year.”

To vote for the Whitchurch Silk Mill visit engagemutual.com/ foundation/ projects/222552.