The first £128,000 of a £1million community giveaway has been distributed to groups supporting young people across Britain – including £4,000 in Nottinghamshire.

The Persimmon Homes Building Futures funding was awarded to 128 different organisations, with applications received across England, Wales and Scotland. The initiative aims to support community groups working with under-18s across three categories – education & arts, health and sport.

Persimmon is now selecting its Building Futures finalists, which will have a chance to win up to £100,000 later this year.

Neil Follows, managing director for Persimmon Homes Nottingham, said: “The number of applications we’ve received to Building Futures has been really encouraging and it’s been great to see so many projects getting involved.

“Obviously the last 18 months or so has been really difficult for local charities and youth clubs so it gives us great pleasure to be able to help. Narrowing down the shortlist to just nine organisations is going to be a tough task but I’m confident our region has a great chance of winning one of the top prizes.”

Over the summer Persimmon Homes Nottingham made awards to Sherwood Oaks Gymnastics Academy, Mansfield; Asylum Academy for Extreme Sports, Sutton; R.E.A.L Foundation Trust, Mansfield; and domestic abuse charity Equation to improve local facilities and the delivery of vital community projects.

Building Futures is delivered through the Persimmon Charitable Foundation in partnership with Team GB, the British Olympic Association. All the eligible applications received will be considered for shortlisting into the second phase of the competition, where three initiatives will go on to win £100,000 each through a national online public vote.

In each sector – education & arts, health and sport – as well as the £100,000 first prize, there will be a £50,000 second prize and a £20,000 third prize, while a further 87 shortlisted projects will each receive £5,000.

In addition to Building Futures, every month Persimmon Homes makes donations of up to £1,000 through its Community Champions scheme.

The leading UK housebuilder has already supported thousands of community groups and charities and will continue to help hundreds more local good causes in 2021. Applications can be made at www.persimmonhomes.com/community-champions