Cash lifeline call for charity

A charity which has supported children with disabilities in Lincolnshire for more than 25 years faces closure within two weeks unless it is thrown a cash lifeline.

Strut in the Community, which supports around 150 disabled county children each year, has seen a dramatic cut in donations coupled with higher overheads and now needs to find at least £10,000 to plug a funding gap.

Even if it can find the cash to implement a rescue plan, up to seven members of staff may still have to be made redundant in the coming months.

Like many charities, Strut's income has dropped due to the recession.

"We have seen an £86,000 drop in donations from last financial year to this and despite making significant changes to the charity, moving into community based settings for care and opening a new showroom for furniture, we have not been able to bridge the gap this has created in the budget," said organisation manager Aimee Holland.

She added that around 10 burglaries at the charity's shops across Lincolnshire, and at the charity's offices in Outer Circle Road, Lincoln, last year, had seen insurance costs spiral.

"This definitely hasn't helped as the insurance costs have gone up making things even more difficult," she said.

On Friday last week Strut had been planning to submit a county council tender for short breaks for disabled children which could have created about £200,000 income over two years from March onwards had it been successful.

But the bid was abandoned given the charity's current plight.

Donations can be made online at www.strutinthecommunity.com or at any of the charity shops.