Twelve local charities received $25,000 or more from the Bank of Bermuda Foundation in the second half of 2004 ? with the final sum of the donations totalling $750,000.

Two of the relatively new organisations to benefit from the funding were the Chatterbox Pre-school and Young Women with a Purpose.

Chatterbox pre-school was established last September by director Angela Fubler, catering to young children with speech and language difficulties.

The school boasts four members of staff ? a head teacher, a speech pathologist, a teaching assistant and an occupational therapist ? and 11 children.

Ms Fubler said the techniques used at the pre-school were ?well-established and effective?. Plans are afoot to expand the enterprise considerably over the coming months, including the proposed offer of technical support to all pre-schools in Bermuda.

?The proper development of children?s speech and language skills will provide them with a firm foundation on which to build a successful academic future,? she said.

?Many of our children do not develop these skills as expected which can have negative consequences on their social, emotional and educational development. We provide a setting that assists with early diagnosis and specialised intervention for these children which allows them to develop language and social skills and thus be better prepared for their future education.?

Young Women With A Purpose is a mentoring centre on Cemetery Road in Pembroke which assists young girls with problems of low self-esteem and a lack of direction in their lives.

The charity was established by former school teacher Tanya Simmons in July, 2002 because of what she believes was a desperate need to come to the aid of local teenaged girls who had ?made bad choices in life?.

The centre has had 138 girls pass through it since its inception, and Ms Simmons has even more ambitious plans for the organisation, including the creation of two entirely new programmes scheduled to start later this year.

These include a series of sessions for adult women starting in March entitled ?Discovering the woman within? as well as a further initiative for young girls called ?Young seeds of promise?, slated for July.

?Young girls of today are faced with many social and emotional challenges at a very young age,? she said.

?Through leadership development programmes, work training experience and educational workshops on topical female issues, we can help our girls to become independent, confident women of tomorrow.?

Other recipients of Bank of Bermuda Foundation donations included the Bermuda High School for Girls, the Bermuda Hockey Federation, Big Brothers and Sister of Bermuda, Institute of Talented Teachers, Open Airways, The Physical Abuse Centre and Warwick Academy.