A charity chaired by a former leader of Bradford Council has awarded nearly £18,000 to community projects across the district.

Baroness Margaret Eaton was at the national launch of the Near Neighbours programme in Bethnal Green, East London, in her role as chairman.

The charity has now approved a £5,000 storytelling initiative at St Stephen’s Church, a £5,000 grant for Touchstone, £2,285 for St John’s Church on Neville Road and £4,922 for the Olive Branch Trust.

The cash is part of the £5 million scheme which aims to help improve inter-faith relations through community projects in Bradford, Burnley, Oldham, Leicester and areas of London and Birmingham..

The charity, created by the Church Urban Fund and the Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, awards small grants of up to £5,000 and has approved more than £98,000 of funding for 26 projects so far.

Lady Eaton, speaking at the launch, said: “I come from Bradford, I grew up in Bradford. I think being born and bred in Bradford was a privilege because my life from a very early age was always full and enriched by the huge numbers of people who have made Bradford their home over centuries.

“Life was always stimulating, always exciting. That is what I think Near Neighbours is. It is something that is stimulating and exciting and can help us to work together.”

SHINE at St Stephen's, in Bowling, is an all-round community project which will be run at the church. It is developing an area of the churchyard to be used for storytelling.

A spokesman for the Church Urban Fund said: “Telling stories is an excellent way of sharing cultural traditions and ideas between people of different ethnic identities, and it gets all ages together. The church is in a very diverse area and already has a good working relationship with the local mosque, these relationships will be strengthened by the new project.”

Touchstone is an established interfaith arts initiative run by the regional Methodist district, getting people of different faiths together for creative workshops.

St John's Church will use their money for a New Year's Eve event for the whole community which will build relationships between different faith and ethnic groups.

The Olive Branch will run a weekly cultural event for ESOL students which will involve cooking and sharing food and craft sessions.

The launch of the project has been supported by several senior bishops in the Church of England,.