A Frome charity that supports people with learning and communication difficulties has been awarded a grant of £20,900.

Openstorytellers, based in Bridge Street, has been given the money over the next two years by Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales.

The grant will help fund an administrator so the charity can continue to help reduce social exclusion.

Openstorytellers was established in 2009 and operates across Somerset and Wiltshire. The administrator will provide support for its projects and services.

Director Cindy Moxham said: “The number of people with complex needs is ever increasing and it is estimated that areas with an average population of 250,000 will have 105 individuals with profound disabilities by 2026, that’s an increase of 27 per cent.

The foundation provided 77 grants totalling £1.7million last year to the South West alone.

Trevor Smale, grant manager for Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, said: “Openstorytellers is providing an innovative service where people can develop their skills and abilities, opening up opportunities for them that may not have been previously there.

“At the foundation, we aim to provide funding that can bring a positive impact to those most vulnerable and support lasting change. Openstorytellers is doing just that.”

A Federal Court of Canada judge this week made mincemeat of Ottawa’s arguments in a dispute over whether to claw back disability payments from pensions paid to disabled Canadian Forces veterans.

The federal government is now pondering an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

But we hope the strongly worded ruling from Justice Robert Barnes will dissuade Ottawa from forcing affected veterans, many in ill health, to wait even longer for the pain and suffering compensation promised them for injuries sustained during service to Canada.

At issue was whether disabled veterans get­ting pensions through the Service Income Se­curity Insurance Plan (SISIP), and who also received disability payments for pain and suf­fering from the military, should have had those latter benefits clawed back by Ottawa.

If that were true, the judge wrote in his rul­ing, then a Canadian Forces member left 100 per cent disabled by severe combat injuries would still only receive roughly the same amount — 75 per cent of their service income — as a veteran with much less significant disabilities.

The Federal Court judge pointed out common law does not allow long-term disability insurers to recoup expenses against non-indemnity entitlements. Further, he argued, it’s accepted doctrine that when contracts are ambiguous, the benefit of the doubt goes to the party in a weaker position.

Despite the large liability the decision represents for Ottawa, perhaps $250 million or more, Ottawa should do the right thing and settle with the veterans.

The SISIP contract stated all “income bene­fits” were to be clawed back from SISIP pen­sions, which replace up to 75 per cent of a vet­eran’s service income. Ottawa argued that meant all payments, including the disability benefit for pain and suffering.