A WEEKLY social group has been set up following a grant of more than £10,000 from a national charity.

The Rat Pack will be funded for the next two years by the People’s Health Trust, an independent charity addressing health inequalities across Britain.

The group will be held every Thursday between 5pm and 7pm, at the West End Centre, based in St Oswald’s Church, Christopher Street, Little Horton.

The £10,200 grant is from money raised by HealthBloom through the Health Lottery.

The service started up after a consultation with residents in June who asked for a new community group.

Centre bosses then put in a bid for the cash to the trust and were told they had been awarded the cash earlier this month.

The Rat Pack will include activities decided by group members on a weekly basis. Its first session was featured a game of bingo.

Future sessions will include a film screening, karaoke and quizzes.

Christine Mann, West End Centre manager, said: “It’s fantastic that we have got this grant. We were so pleased.

“It is open to anybody, particularly who lives in Little Horton and Canterbury. Everybody is welcome. It’s an amazing group.

“The idea of the group is to bring people together.

“All members of the community are welcome, whatever faith.

“It tends to be adults who attend, aged between 40 and 70.

“We had about ten people come to our first session.

“It is down to people what they want to do at the sessions.

“They have set up a steering group to decide what activities they do.

“Some people don’t feel safe enough to go into Bradford. Some don’t feel safe about going out in the evening. We can walk them home from this group.

“It’s about coming together as a community and making new friends.”

The People’s Health Trust works closely with each of the UK’s 51 society lotteries and gives grants using money raised by the society lotteries through the Health Lottery.

More than 2,300 projects have been supported by the trust across the UK, helping more than 390,000 people.

David Jones, director of grant programmes at People’s Health Trust, said: “People’s Health Trust is delighted to invest in this project that will give older people the chance to get out in the evenings, socialise and make new friends."

“Residents will choose the activities that they would like to take part in each week and, as the project progresses, it will be great to see group members leading and designing the project.”

  • For more information on the service, call Richard Thompson on 07798 828830, Fran Holgate on 07539 204492, or Mrs Mann on 07853 240809.