The final line-up of local newspapers set to give away a total of £2milliion to community projects has been announced.

Eight titles in total will allocate £250,000 of Big Lottery Fund cash to locally-run schemes on their patch, with individual grants of between £10,000 and £30,000.

The Grimsby Telegraph, Sunderland Echo, Lancashire Telegraph, The News in Portsmouth and The Sentinel in Stoke have joined the Torquay Herald Express, the Leicester Mercury and the Eastern Daily Press in signing up for the scheme.

Editor of The News Mark Waldron said it was a “fantastic opportunity” for people to think about how their community could be improved.

“The sum of money on offer is amazing and in times like these, it is not often clubs and groups can receive so much,” he said.

“We are really excited to be a part of this and help our communities grow and improve.”

People involved in community or not-for-profit groups and projects, parish and town councils, health bodies or schools based in the newspapers’ patches have until August to apply for a grant.

A panel of judges made up of someone from the Big Lottery Fund, someone from the newspaper, and a local UK Community Foundation representative will then draw up a shortlist of the best ideas, and readers will then cast their votes on which ones are most deserving during a two-week voting period in September.

The Big Lottery Fund has awarded almost £6billion of lottery funding since 2004. In Leicester, that has included a community garden project at a local library, which was created by volunteers thanks to a £6,129 grant.