THREE charities received a share of £2,000 from the developer of a new Shrivenham housing project.

Legal & General Homes donated the money as part of the quarterly scheme it runs in the area surrounding its Cross Trees Park development.

Pennyhooks Farm near Highworth Road will receive £1,000 to go towards providing unique experiences for young people and adults with autism.

Every week, 50 children and young adults are welcomed to the farm to learn skills including animal care, conservation and woodwork.

CEO Lydia Otter said: "This support has made an enormous difference to us. We receive most of our funding from the government but still have to raise at least £5,000 a month to subsidise the specialist activities that we provide.

"It is incredibly kind of Legal & General Homes to enable us to continue to help amazing young people with complex autism to learn vital skills that enable them to lead purposeful adult lives.”

Viscountess Barrington’s Homes for disabled ex-servicemen and women in Shrivenham has been awarded £600. The Grade-2 listed Shrivenham Memorial Hall on the village’s Recreational Ground received £400.

The housebuilders' managing director John Allan said: “We’re committed to giving back to causes that make a real difference to Shrivenham and the lives of people that live here, which is why we were thrilled to support these three fantastic charities this quarter.

"We’re proud our scheme can help in some way.”

Anyone who pops into the site's visitors centre can choose one of three local charities to receive the largest share of a £2,000 fund by placing tokens in donation boxes for their charity of choice.

At the end of the three months, the voting tokens are counted and the charity with the most receives £1,000, the second £600 and the third £400.

Charities can apply to be part of the charitable grant scheme by visiting landghomes.com/our-difference/social-value/ or by emailing social.value@landghomes.com and requesting an application form.

The next quarter's charities are Be Free Young Carers, Prospect Hospice and Friends of Shrivenham School.