Pudsey awards £1.2m to local charity projects

MUSIC workshops for autistic children and after- school clubs are among the local projects to benefit from £1.2m awarded to Northern Ireland by BBC Children in Need.

Around £395,000 is going to several schemes working with disadvantaged young people in Belfast.

Recipients of the funding include Open Arts, which has been awarded some £75,336 to deliver a programme of music workshops for children and young people who are on the autistic spectrum or who are blind or visually impaired.

The Cliftonville Community Centre in north Belfast has also been awarded £42,398 to provide after-school ac- tivities and workshops for children and young people.

The Upper Andersonstown Community Forum, meanwhile, has been given £75,000, allowing it to provide a youth club for children and young people in the local area.

BBC Children in Need awards such funding at seven points throughout the year.

More money will be pledged to schemes working with disadvantaged youngsters throughout 2016.

Projects working with children and young people facing any kind of disadvantage are free to apply.