A charity from Sutton was the winner of a Gannett Foundation Award cheque, which will allow them to offer cheap sports lessons for disadvantaged children in the area.

The Sutton School of Gymnastics received the cheque for just over £7,500 to help them buy new equipment and give local children a chance to learn the sport.

Liz Jones, the school’s head coach and manager, received the cheque from the Gannett-owned Sutton Guardian’s assistant editor Matthew Knowles at its south London office, in North Cheam.

She said: “I’m over the moon. This money is going to be used to buy an air track and mats for the children.

“We try and bring the children off the streets and offer them something to do.

“All this equipment will also be very useful to the gymnasts we already have. From the tiny tots to the adults.”

The Gannett Foundation trustees met on April 23 to evaluate 200 applications, and chooses almost 60 groups, which received a total of £300k.

Mrs Jones said they decided to enter the award after the chairman of the school saw the advertisement for the award in the Sutton Guardian.

The coach said: “The children we serve are from the heart of the St Helier estate.

"We need to invest in these children and it’s great, to be able to give them the opportunity to do gymnastics and to do it for free or a very low price.”

Through its Community Grant Program, Gannett Foundation supports not-for-profit activities in the communities in which Gannett does business.

Through its other programs, the foundation invests in the future of the media industry, encourages employee giving, reacts to natural and other disasters, and contributes to a variety of charitable causes.

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