A LOCAL charity providing people from disadvantaged groups with real work opportunities and experiences has benefited from a donation of £1,725 by a Catholic men’s group the Catenians.

EnviroAbility, based in the old mill in Brookend Street, will use the money to provide real work opportunities from disadvantaged groups in and around Ross-on-Wye.

EnviroAbility puts the people it supports at the centre of everything it does by developing projects that are based on their interests.

The Ross charity provides people from disadvantaged groups with real work opportunities and experiences, that is both valued and visible to the larger community. EnviroAbility offers services that local people want, and that otherwise would not be available to individuals and groups, that are often marginalised.

A similar sum was donated to Reach Out Monmouth, a charity giving comfort and support to the people in need in Monmouth.

Making the presentations immediate past president Martin Flach praised both the charities for their dedication and observed that EnviroAbility doesn’t come up with the projects and make people fit into them, but brings people on board, often with complex and varied needs, who may struggle to fit into roles with other organisations, and make the projects work for them.

Mr Flach also thanked his fellow Catenians for their support during his year of office.

Those donations mean that over the past ten years Monmouth Wyedean Catenians have raised £25,000 for their president’s charities.

Meanwhile, the group’s musical offshoot Celtic Collectors, increasingly well regarded on the Wye Valley musical scene, have raised £16,000 for local charities.

Monmouth Wyedean Catenians serves eastern Monmouthshire and the Forest of Dean and is part of a worldwide Catholic network. Members meet monthly at Bridges Centre in Monmouth.

For more information search monmouthwyedeancatenians.com.