A HARLOW housing charity has been awarded more than £100,000, ensuring its survival for another three years.o

The £103,573 grant was given to the Harlow Accommodation Project (HAP) by the National Lottery's Community Fund, the second time HAP has received support from the fund.

The money will cover all running costs for the next three years, including the salaries of housing officers Selma Granger and Penny Mead.

Speaking at the charity's offices in Wych Elm, Mrs Granger said: "It's brilliant, without it we don't know where we would have got the funding from. We've known since last Thursday and we couldn't tell anyone.

"Our favourite man of the moment is the grant officer who told us we'd been successful. It's absolutely fantastic news."

She added: "The award will enable us to continue our work with those people classed as 'non-priority' hoping to get housed. There are far more single people needing housing than families, but as young, single people without family or medical problems they are not classed as a priority."

She said the grant was crucial for the charity to continue its work. The project would have been forced to close this year without it, Mrs Granger added.

Community Fund enquiries officer Miranda McCoy said: "It's a huge well done (for HAP) and shows that we want to fund this kind of project. They had to go through a rigorous application process to get the funding, to show that they needed the money and that it would benefit the people it is intended for."

Mrs McCoy added that it was "not the norm" for a single project to get a second grant from the fund.

Mrs Granger said: "Obviously they think we're worth it. There is a definite need to help young people find homes and we are thrilled that we will be able to continue our much needed services."