A HAMPSHIRE charity to save an activity centre has received funding from the Department for Levelling Up.

As previously reported, Girlguiding UK has been planning to sell off its 65-acre Foxlease complex at Lyndhurst in the New Forest due to cost-cutting measures.

A charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) called Foxie's Future was set up with the aim of acquiring the site, although they would have to raise millions of pounds to do so.

READ MORE: Campaigners 'confident' they can raise millions to save activities centre

Hampshire Chronicle: FoxleaseFoxlease (Image: Foxie's Future)

However, it has been announced that investment from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Community Ownership Fund will give Foxie’s Future a much needed boost, bringing them closer to purchasing the site and keeping it open.

The CIO has received £1.78m from the government towards this effort. It is part of a larger £33.5m investment to save more than 80 community projects across the UK.

Jacob Young, Minister for Levelling Up, said: “We know how much these vital community assets mean to people across the country. They are an important lifeline for people young and old, and they’re the beating heart of our towns, cities and villages.  

“That’s why we’re stepping in to protect them with a major rescue package, so we stop these great establishments closing or being lost forever and ensure that they continue to sit at the heart of our beloved communities.”

SEE ALSO: Hampshire siblings walk from Winchester to Lyndhurst to save Girl Guiding centre

Other projects in the South-East which have received funding include The Bell in Hampshire, which will be given £995,000 so it can be bought by the community, repaired and reopened, and the Ashendon pub in Aylesbury, which is being given £300,000 to secure its future.

12 Claremont in Hastings is also being given £725,000 to refurbish the derelict heritage building and return it to its use as artists’ studios and workspaces by creating a fully inclusive creative hub.

The next round of the Community Ownership Fund, Round 4, is the final round.

There will be two bidding windows in Round 4 to allocate the remaining funding. The next bidding window, Round 4 Window 1, will open on March 25, and close on April 10.