A CRISIS appeal to save a Fareham based charity has raised almost £50,000 in less than a

month.

The Rainbow Centre crisis appeal now need to raise another £50,000 to keep it afloat and save it from an uncertain future.

It will need to find the funds by the end of August or it may be forced to close.

The charity provides therapies for children with cerebral palsy and adults with Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis and recovering from a stroke.

It costs almost £850,000 per year to run the centre, which gets no official funding from the government. Everything it spends is raised from donations, trusts, grants and corporate gifts.

Its fundraising appeal is now stepping up a gear to ensure it brings in the rest of the money The Rainbow Centre needs to continue to provide the services it does.

So far money has been raised through grants and the efforts of people who are determined that the centre should survive.

Founder of the charity, Helen Somerset-How, said: “The efforts of so many people in communities right across the south determined to see that the Rainbow Centre survives has been truly heartwarming.

“We have still got a long way to go, but raising this much money in a short period of time inspires me to feel that this is possible if we can continue to encourage and urge people to do whatever they can to help and support us today and every day through the summer.”

The crisis appeal was launched after community donations fell by 30 per cent in this financial year.

The therapies delivered at the centre enable severely disabled children to walk and perform other activities and enabling adults to re-train some of the motor skills that they lose with Parkinson’s and a stroke.