Port companies in Felixstowe have been praised for an “enlightened and absolutely inspirational” charity project that has seen good causes in the area receive more than £300,000.

The Port Community Fund (PCF) has now been running for seven years and has given 168 grants to 62 different organisations.

In addition to the £310,000 handed out, the companies have also been contributing to an endowment fund to provide for grant making in perpetuity – this already exceeds £150,000, and the aim is to reach £1million.

At a special ceremony at Felixstowe Town Hall, the fund’s achievements were celebrated and mayor of Felixstowe, Doreen Savage presented PCF plaques to several organisations supported by the fund.

The PCF was set up by 12 companies in and around the Port of Felixstowe – including the port itself – to pool their resources so they could do more to support charities and build relationship with the community.

Stephen Singleton, chief executive of the Suffolk Community Foundation, which manages the fund, told the ceremony: “Not a week goes by without negative news and coverage of business behaviour. Banks, retail, car production – you name it. But business does so much good, usually unreported.

“In the case of Felixstowe, something extraordinary has happened. A group of companies came together in a structured, organised approach to maximise their giving, its impact and its benefit.”

He said the PCF was “enlightened and absolutely inspirational”.

Mrs Savage presented plaques to the Disability Advice Service (East Suffolk), which received the first ever grant made by the fund, and to East Suffolk Association for the Blind (ESAB), Felixstowe Area Community Transport, Suffolk Cruse Bereavement Care, the Woolverstone Project and Bumblebee Children’s Charity.