COMMUNITY groups and voluntary organisations all over south Warwickshire, including Stratford, have scooped £3m to help address problems of rural deprivation.

The South Warwickshire Together Partnership, know as PIE, joined forces to make a bid to Advantage West Midlands, the Government's regional agency.

The agency granted £3m as part of a £9m programme to tackle social exclusion and poverty over the next six years in isolated pockets of South Warwickshire.

PIE bid for £4m - £1m more than was granted - but even so the partnership representing 70 plus voluntary groups, was delighted with the windfall.

Coun Bob Stevens, leader of Stratford District Council said: "I am thrilled we have been awarded this grant.

"The apparent high quality of life in this part of the country is not shared by everyone, but measuring rural poverty and exclusion are very difficult to illustrate using traditional statistical methods."

He said that evidence provided by both Stratford and Warwick District Council showed that about 12,000 households in the area received some form of means-tested benefits.

Out of those, 8,000 were pensioners' households and about 4,000 children live in benefit-dependent households.

Coun Stevens added: "We will now start a number of initiatives including improving the skills, educational and employment prospects for local people, addressing social exclusion and reducing crime and drug abuse."

The partnership aims to increase by 25% people entering further education and training, increase by 20% the number of villages with all key services such as post offices and shops, and increase by 50% the number of people taking up voluntary work.

At the same time it wants to reduce the number of businesses experiencing skill shortages, non-pensioner households receiving benefits, and reduce the number of nuisance youth incidents.