A POT of half a million pounds has been released by the Government to help charities boost their support and donations.

The Grow your Tenner fund will start on October 15 as Localgiving offers £500,000 to match donations given to small charities.

Every donation of £10 to an organisation registered with Localgiving will be doubled by the fund until it has run out.

The Community Foundation for Wiltshire and Swindon is working to help community groups get started with online fundraising and take advantage of the match-fund opportunity.

Jon Yates, development director at the Community Foundation for Wiltshire and Swindon, said: “At the moment we have got 65 of these groups in Wiltshire who have signed up to the site, so anyone who donates £10 to those charities will have their money doubled.

“What we are keen to do is to get the groups who have already joined the site to benefit straight away, and also to recruit new groups to take advantage of this opportunity. The pot is £500,000 nationally, but it is first come first served, and when it is gone it is gone.

“If you set up a monthly donation to a particular local group, then this fund will automatically match the first six £10 donations.

“Gift Aid will also be added to each donation, so the groups themselves do not have to be registered with Gift Aid to benefit.

“It is often quite an administrative burden to register for Gift Aid, because charities usually have to claim their donations every month, but with the website they do all that for you.”

The Community Foundation for Wiltshire and Swindon gave out £770,665 in grants to 683 organisations in 2012/13.

“We also have a match fund we put forward for Wiltshire groups which we ran this year, and they all managed to raise about £6,000 last time around,” added Mr Yates.

“This is a great opportunity, but only if people line up their supporters quickly.”

Laura Wilson, community fundraiser for Swindon Therapy Centre for MS, said: “It is harder for charities to raise money all the time and we have to think of new ways of raising money and making it accessible.

“There are so many charities out there now vying for money, but because it is a £10 match fund it is easier to garner a range of different people and broaden our support base.

“It helps for the people who do not necessarily use new technology to get the confidence to go on the website.

“I am very passionate about Localgiving because it is very easy for people to use and for me to explain to them.

“It is less in your face, and useful for us because our members are disabled so it is hard for them to go out and collect.”

To take part in the fund-match simply register the details of a community group on www.localgiving.com before October 10.