A community education project for schoolchildren will expand after receiving an award.

The initiative, which provides life and money education to pupils, is backed by housing association, Cottsway.

After securing funds from the Travis Perkins Legacy Fund, the project recently bagged the 'Better Together' award, which includes a £5,000 cash injection to further bolster the initiative.

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The first of the project's schemes, 'Money Wise', teaches students about a range of financial issues, and to date, has been delivered to Bartholomew School in Eynsham, Burford School, Chipping Norton School, The Marlborough C of E School in Woodstock and The Henry Box School in Witney.

Meanwhile, the Respect Your Life national citizenship anti-social behaviour programme tackles issues such as drug and alcohol dangers, peer pressure and knife crime, having already visited two primary schools; Our Lady of Lourdes and St Mary’s, both of which are in Witney

With the award money, there are plans to broaden the scope of the schemes to more schools within the area next year.

Communities manager at Cottsway, Vicki Paxford, said: "We’re over the moon that we’ve received this award.

"As West Oxfordshire’s largest housing association, we are committed to supporting the community.

"Everyone who takes part in these school programmes gain knowledge, awareness and new skills and this additional financial boost will enable us to extend the programme to more schools within our area next year."

Schools liaison at Children’s Safety Education Foundation (CSEF), Michael Fitzgerald, said: "We are thankful to Cottsway and TPMS for their support and it’s absolutely great that Cottsway has won this award, and that we will be able to provide training to more school children as a result of this."

The Travis Perkins Managed Services (TPMS), a provider to the repairs and maintenance sector, and one of Cottsway's suppliers, is responsible for awarding the funds, which go to support various community initiatives.

Jos Bailey, from TPMS, said: "We’re delighted to recognise the valuable work that Cottsway and the CSEF are doing to help improve financial education locally and to hear that the £5,000 award will continue to help fund these school programmes."