STAFF and volunteers at the Cotswold Canals Trust are celebrating receiving a donation of £2,500 courtesy of the Stroud News & Journal.

The grant has come from the Gannett Foundation, the charitable arm of the newspaper’s parent company, Newsquest Media Group.

The money will be put towards buying a telehandler and trailer, to help the charity’s project to reconnect the canal between The Ocean near Stonehouse and Saul Junction.

Aimee-Louise Malcolm, fundraiser ambassador for the canals trust, said: “As we begin to restore the canal between Stonehouse and Saul Junction, our army of volunteers need equipment and plant to clear towpaths and prepare the landscape for the restored canal.”

Each year, the Gannett Foundation awards tens of thousands of pounds to worthy causes in the communities served by Newsquest newspapers.

This year, donations of more than £140,000 were awarded to 40 different community organisations.

The canals trust estimates that the Stonehouse to Saul Junction restoration will lead to 250,000 more users per year on the towpath and in the water.

The Cotswold Canals Trust was selected for a grant after their application for a donation was sent on to the Gannett Foundation trustees by SNJ editor Michael Purton.

Michael said: “The canal restoration brings so many benefits to both residents and wildlife, so I was pleased to help the trust win a grant from the foundation.

“For those groups in Gloucestershire who were unsuccessful in their application this year, please do try again when the grants process starts again this October.”