COUNCILLORS have backed the Wellington and District Churches Together group with a £500 grant towards the costs of the 2018 Big Tent event.

The event is a children’s and youth holiday bible club that involves all the churches of Wellington and aims to present Christianity and the stories of the bible to young people in a fun and action-packed way.

Although Wellington Town Council agreed to support the grant application, Cllr John Thorne said he was ‘uneasy about supporting religious organisations’ but added he was not in favour of it because it was a self-funding event and did not need the council’s financial backing.

But Cllr Vivienne Stock-Williams said: “This is well worth supporting because it is a community event for the town.

“It’s well attended and a lot of children – whether they are religious or not – go along and have a great time.”

And Cllr Marcus Barr added: “We support other groups in the town which have a lot more money than this group.

“What they are asking for is just pennies and the children who go aren’t causing any damage. We should support this.”

Councillors sitting on the council’s finance committee recommended at their latest meeting that they should award the grant and this was ratified by the full council later the same evening.