VOLUNTEERS took part in a Dragon’s Den style bidding competition to raise vital cash.

Fifteen community groups competed for the grand prize, in a competition that was the first of its kind in the Cheshire West region, at Frodsham Community Community Centre Fluin Lane, Frodsham.

Each group gave a three minute presentation, saying why they deserved the money, before placing their three tokens into a makeshift voting machine to decide which group would get the grant.

The 4th Frodsham Scouts, 3rd Frodsham Sea Scouts and the Castle Park Arts Centre who collected the most counters and scooped the grand cash prize.

The projects gained the stamp of approval from three local councillors, Andrew Dawson, Les Ford and Mark Ingram, who sourced the much-needed cash from their own personal member budgets.

Cllr Dawson remarked on the event as a fantastic evening which was the first of its kind in the district.

“It was great bringing together community groups from Frodsham and Helsby and having these groups decide where the three £1,000 grants will go,” he said.

“So far as I know we were the first Councillors in the Borough to let the community groups themselves decide where the community grant monies should go.

“It worked really well – we even had a purpose built vote counting machine worthy of a ‘Blue Peter’ badge!”

Cllr Dawson also said that further groups who competed on the evening would soon receive grants for their projects, which would help clubs, societies and renovations within Frodsham and Helsby.