A CHARITY garden has grown with the help of a grant from the owner of the Hereford Times.

The Gannett Foundation, the charitable arm of the parent company of Newsquest Media Group, gave a grant of £6,550 to Hereford-based charity, Aspire.

The money was put to good use for its garden project at its community hub in Canal Road in Hereford.

One half has been made into a sensory garden and the other has been planted with vegetables to supply their own cafe.

Aspire provides a range of services to people with a learning or other disabilities.

Manager Sue Bucknell said: "It is a really fantastic space and has been used a lot over this summer.

"We have a gardening group who use a good amount of the space to grow vegetables and fruit and bits and pieces for our community cafe."

The charity took over the building in Canal Road in May 2014 from Herefordshire Council and the garden was overgrown.

The money helped regenerate the area, which also has a space for centre users to relax and a community orchard.

Miss Bucknell said: "The grant paid for all of the work. Over a course of a week 82 people use the centre. Outside our core hours the local community use the venue- a church group, self-help groups, yoga. It is a very busy centre."

The charity thanked Dave Campbell and team from DC Gardening, Gavin Andrews from GSA, Alex Yorke from Growing Point, the members of their Aspire Gardening Group and Allensmore Nurseries for a donation of plants.

The application process for a Gannett Foundation grant is now open.

Applications can come from practical and creative projects that bring lasting benefits to the communities and neighbourhoods served by this newspaper and its online audience.

It should be noted that applicants must be registered charities and cannot have received a grant from us within the last two years. We are unable to fund salaries, professional fees or day-to-day running or maintenance costs or political or religious objectives.

Applications must be submitted on the approved application form which includes a list of criteria.

It can be downloaded from the Hereford Times website or requested by emailing htgannettfoundation@herefordtimes.com. Applications must be sent electronically before 5pm on October 14 to Hereford Times editor Peter John at peter.john@herefordtimes.com