Swindon Carers Centre has been awarded £129,036 by the Big Lottery Fund to develop and strengthen young carer awareness and support in 47 local colleges and schools.

The project will work with secondary schools to improve the transition for young carers between primary and secondary school and further education.

Swindon Carers Centre is one of six projects across the South West sharing a total of the £1.4 million funding from the Big Lottery Fund's Reaching Communities scheme.

Other awards include nearly £500,000 for a homelessness charity to expand a project which supports young people who are at risk of sleeping on the streets of Bristol.

The Bristol Nightstop scheme, run by Caring In Bristol, will provide young people with immediate one-to-one help to deal with crisis situations when they are unable to access emergency support from other services in the city.

The project will provide young people with emergency accommodation in the homes of vetted and trained volunteer hosts, while the funding will also help expand the volunteer host network to ensure a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week service is provided to young people all year round.

Lyn Cole, Big Lottery Fund deputy director, England, said: "Projects receiving Reaching Communities funding across the South West are making a difference to some of the most vulnerable people in their local areas."

In Totnes, the Dartington Hall Trust will expand its pilot project which works with people coming out of prison with its funding of £330,455. The project will help ex-prisoners to reintegrate into local communities by providing training, work experience and a range of support to help them find employment.

Meanwhile, Kingsbury Episcopi Amenities Committee in Martock, Somerset, has been awarded a development grant of £29,198 to work on plans to establish a community hub that will provide a village hall, meeting space and shop and cafe.