The Money Shop in Wisbech has made a donation of £5000 to the town's Oasis Community Centre. From left to right are centre receptionist Cherry Means; centre manager, Chris Stevens, store manager, Dovile Krisciuniene; chairman of Wisbech Community Development Trust, Steve Cawthorne; Money Shop regional manager, Jasvinder Phagoora and CPL Trust - community development officer, Wendy Stevenson. Credit: Professional Images

A FENLAND loans firm that was awarded costs by a planning inspector has handed the £10,000 cash straight over to two charities.

Store manager of The Money Shop in Wisbech, Dovile Krisciuniene, presents a cheque for £5000 to the centre manager of the Oasis Community Centre, Chris Stevens. Credit: Professional Images

Money Shop in Wisbech has presented £5,000 to the town’s Oasis Centre, and the rest of the money will go to Help for Heroes.

Two months ago, a planning inspector awarded the costs against Fenland District Council, saying its initial refusal of planning permission for Money Shop had put the company to the unnecessary expense of lodging an appeal

Corporate affairs director for Money Shop, Caroline Walton, said: “ Our staff wanted to show their support for the good work carried out at the Oasis Centre, so we decided to split the cash between two very worthwhile and hard working organisations.”

Oasis Centre manager Chris Stevens said: “I would like to thank The Money Shop for choosing to support us. All our income comes from the hire of our rooms and small grants that we apply for to provide various free learning opportunities for the community.

“This money will be used to run a Confidence Course, which is a first step for many towards other adult education such as literacy and numeracy training. We have a constant waiting list for these courses but we need financial support as they are quite expensive. We will also be able to put on other adult education courses which the community has highlighted.”

Run by the Wisbech Community Development Trust, the Oasis Centre has been serving the community for more than 30 years and moved into the currentbuilding in 2005. It can be hired for meetings, conferences and by interest groups.