Is this the last of RDC community grants?

The cash comes from Rother District Council's Community Grants Scheme. Groups apply each year for a portion of a 130,000 pot to fund projects which will benefit the community.

Most of the money, approved at a Cabinet meeting on Monday, went to rural areas of Rother, but Bexhill will benefit from a 5,000 grant towards funding a part time youth worker for Bexhill Young People's Services (BYPS).

The sum is conditional on the Youth Bank project, administered by East Sussex County Council (ESCC), also contributing funding.

The largest sum was 20,000 offered to 1st Rye Scout Group as a contribution towards a new building.

Other beneficiaries included Pett Tennis Club, Rye Cricket Club, Catsfield Village Hall and the Iden Village Sign Group.

A total of 39,000 remains in the pot for the second round of funding later this year, but Cllr David Vereker (Con, Darwell ward), called for the scheme to be scrapped, saying some of the sums involved were "piffling" and should be raised by the applicants themselves.

"I just wonder when these savings are going to start," he said. "None of these are essential things. When are we going to get on with cutting?"

Cllr Ian Jenkins (Con, Ticehurst and Etchingham) sits on the panel who sift through the applications. He admitted the scheme was likely to be reviewed.

"It's a very valuable connection between a district council and the parish and town councils that we serve," he said.

"But we are looking at a difficult time and with that in mind there may well be reasons in the future to look at how far this initiative should be pursued."

The Youth Bank scheme is a government pot of cash controlled by local young people.

Applications from youth groups are made to the panel each year, with the next deadline being Friday, October 15.

Two ESCC officers currently run a number of sessions each week in Sidley, Pebsham, and at the BYPS headquarters in Station Road.

For information on Youth Bank applications, visit www.connexions360.org.uk/youthbank