A WIRRAL animal welfare charity is one of two on Merseyside that have received a share of funding for its "incredible" work after a public vote.

Horse Sense Wirral, which is based in Thornton Hough and helps rescue ponies and horses by giving them a place to stay and recover, received £1,000 from Benefact Group, which was giving away £1million to charities through its Movement for Good awards.

Members of the public were invited to nominate causes close to their hearts, with 150 awards of £1,000 announced this week.

The other charity receiving £1,000 is Mencap Liverpool, which promotes equality for people with a learning disability.

Kind-hearted Merseyside residents donated their time and submitted more than 3,600 nominations for charities close to their hearts.

More than 11,000 charitable causes in the UK and Ireland received votes, thanks to more than 135,000 nominations from supporters.

The 150 winning charities were picked at random from those nominated, with a further 150 winners being selected in September. Further gifts will be awarded throughout the year.

Since the awards began, more than 1.6 million nominations have been received resulting in over 2,200 charities benefitting from valuable donations.

Winners are chosen at random and the more times a charity is nominated the more chance it has of being selected. Further gifts totalling £500,000 will also be donated in larger amounts later this year.

To find out how to support the Movement for Good Awards and to nominate a cause you care about visit www.movementforgood.com.

Thanking supporters in Merseyside, Mark Hews, Group chief executive of Benefact Group, said: "We would like to thank every single person who took the time to nominate a good cause as part of our Movement for Good Awards.

"Benefact Group is the third largest corporate donor in the UK and has the ambition to be the biggest.

"Owned by a charity, all of its available profits go to good causes, and the more the Group grows, the more the Group can give.

"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 financial boost will change lives for the better."