A £5,000 appeal to buy a new minibus for children at St Nicholas School in Chippenham has received a £300 boost from North Wiltshire District Council.

Members of the Chippenham area committee agreed last week to make the grant.

The bus will enable the special needs pupils to make regular trips to a swimming pool and go on school outings.

The St Nicholas Parents, Teachers and Friends Association still has £1,200 to raise before the appeal target is reached.

At the same meeting, councillors also agreed to make a grant of £300 to Lee Ryan, of Chippenham, to help his international skate hockey career with the Great Britain Juniors.

The award will go towards helping to buy specialist sports equipment.

Mr Ryan also hopes to raise the profile of the sport, attracting new members to his coaching sessions at local leisure centres and in schools.

At least 20 players have reached county level as a result of his coaching, with three attending national trials.

He said the grant will now help him to pursue his international career and continue his voluntary coaching.

The committee also made a grant of £300 to Daniel Wakeman, 17, of Lowden, Chippenham, to help finance a trip to Japan to compete in the World Karate Championships in August. Daniel, a student at Wiltshire College, has been practising karate since he was five.

Springfield Opportunity Group, the special needs playgroup in Chippenham, was also awarded £300 to provide a music therapist to work with children with communication disorders or emotional difficulties.

Two grant applications were turned down.

Chippenham Town Council applied for between £300 and £500 to help fund the annual Children's Fun Day at John Coles Park.

The event has been running for ten years, offering a low cost day out for local families.

In previous years the town council has funded the day through local business sponsorship and donations, but competition for funding has been particularly difficult because of the number of golden jubilee events.

The area committee decided it would not be appropriate to make a grant to another council, as councillors feared it would set a precedent for other councils.

Coun Maureen Lloyd a committee member and a town councillor said the event would still go ahead.

The area committee also turned down an application by Chippenham Bowls Association for a grant towards its 18th Annual Bowls Tournament on August 23. Members agreed they could not support an award for an event which took place every year.