Community groups in west Suffolk are waiting to hear whether they will receive a share of a £357,000 cash pot.

Citizens Advice will be the biggest beneficiary, being earmarked for £240,000 under the Community Chest initiative from West Suffolk Council.

Other schemes set to benefit include Home Start Mid & West Suffolk, which works with the autistic and which is in line for £14,000, and £14,750 for Haverhill Community Trust.

The pot helps support community groups and charities which work in a host of areas, including family support, counselling, arts, sports and advice.

The 17 groups were whittled down from 46 applicants by the council's grant working party and will be studied by the cabinet at its meeting on January 14.

They are:

- Citizens Advice West Suffolk - £240,000

- Befriending Scheme, Haverhill - £4,420

- Second Chance Support Group - £3,500

- Steel Bones, Mildenhall - £3,500

- Suffolk Mind, Haverhill - £4,500

- Sharing Parenting - £17,000

- Cruse Bereavement, West Suffolk - £8,000

- Alumah CIO - £5,870

- REACH, Haverhill - £10,000

- Relate, Bury St Edmunds - £4,500

- Home-Start Mid and West Suffolk - £14,000

- Our Special Friends - £3,500

- Bury Theatre Workshop - £4,000

- Haverhill Community Trust - £14,750

- Newmarket Day Centre - £10,000

- The Erskine Centre, Chedburgh - £5,000

- The Turner Hall, Newmarket - £5,000

Robert Everitt, the council's portfolio holder for families and communities said: "All these organisations are doing vital work in their communities from improving mental health to supporting vulnerable people to keeping community facilities going.

"The council is not required by law to fund any of these, but we see it as a priority and think the work and support that is going on in our communities is not only important but has real tangible benefits.

"All the applications had merits and we looked at all of them very closely. Where we could not fund them, we do offer support particularly to identify other potential of other sources of funding."

Since 2015 West Suffolk Council and its former authorities have given nearly £2.1 million to community groups and other organisations as part of its families and communities work.