SEVEN heritage and community projects in the East Wight are celebrating a funding boost of almost £25,000.

The successful projects have been given funding from Down to the Coast, a Heritage Lottery funded landscape partnership scheme led by the IW AONB.

IW Ramblers received £5,000 to fix the network of footpaths and footbridges in the northern sections of Brading Marsh, enabling people to access the tranquil landscape in all weathers.

Shanklin Theatre and Community Trust were awarded £4,000 towards the cost of repairing sliding sash windows as part of an ongoing programme of conservation and repair to this popular cultural asset.

Bembridge Village Partnership received almost £4,000 to enable local schools and community groups to work with artists to brighten up the popular Fisherman’s Walk area with new murals and sculptures.

The IW Literary Festival youth zone was awarded £3,500 to inspire local students and schoolchildren to develop their storytelling skills by working with professional storytellers to tell the tales of local 'Hidden Heroes'.

Wight Nature Fund received £4,300 to undertake repairs to the network of boardwalks that criss-cross Bensteads Marsh which provide access to Alverstone Marsh bird hide.

Quarr Abbey was awarded £4,000 to repair and refurbish part of its former stable block for use as a 'Nammet Room' by its team of dedicated volunteers.

Friends of Ventnor Library received more than £900 to enable its volunteers to catalogue, digitise and publish on the web the collection of Daphne Carter — a Ventnor resident and photographer whose archive provides a unique record of the town in the 20th Century.