Ten charities based in Gloucestershire have won a £1,000 festive boost thanks to nominations from the public.

The charities were nominated to win a share of £120,000 as part of specialist insurer Ecclesiastical's annual 12 days of giving Christmas campaign.

The Willow Trust, which offers disabled and seriously ill children and adults the chance to spend a day on board a canal boat, and Scrubditch Care Farm, which provides therapeutic farm-based training and activities for vulnerable people, are among the local charities set to benefit from the money following overwhelming public support in the area.

Also in the mix is the National Star Foundation, which also currently benefits from two pots of money from the Police and Crime Commissioner's Fund making possible a personalised travel training programme and a paid work placement scheme (with Gloucestershire Constabulary).

In total more than 120,000 people around the UK nominated a cause close to their heart, with 5,000-plus charities receiving votes. The 120 winning organisations were picked at random from those nominated.

Mark Hews, group chief executive at Gloucster-headquartered Ecclesiastical, said: "Here at Ecclesiastical, our core purpose is to contribute to the greater good of society, so charitable giving is at the heart of our business.

"We know that £1,000 can make a huge difference to the incredible work that charities do and we're looking forward to seeing how this festive financial boost will change lives for the better."

The ten winning charities in Gloucestershire were:

• Biodynamic Agricultural Association

• Cam Hopton Association

• Forest of Dean Athletic Club

• Friends of Alexander Hosea School

• Friends of Bettridge

• Gloucester Athletics Track Management Limited

• National Star Foundation

• Scrubditch Care Farm

• The John Ray Initiative Limited

• The Willow Trust.