CHILDREN at the West Somerset Nursery in Minehead certainly have something to smile about after group leaders secured £4,860 in National Lottery funding to make playtimes even safer.

The nursery has received the grant from the Big Lottery Fund's Awards for All programme for a wooden playground canopy, which will provide shade for an outside play area.

Alison Clegg of the nursery said the canopy would allow youngsters to make the most of "free flow play" and provide a secure, supervised area for them to enjoy.

The grant was one of 57 totalling more than £440,000 handed out by the lottery to groups across the South West.

Mark Cotton, head of the fund's South West region, said: "This funding is going to have a significant impact on communities right across the region, whether improving people's health and well-being, helping them to develop new skills or giving them a chance to enjoy new activities."

The Awards for All programme offers grants of between £300 and £10,000 to social and environmental projects that benefit communities and make a difference to the lives of those most in need.

Voluntary and community groups, schools, health organisations and parish and town councils can all apply.