A CHARITY which offers vital support to children and adult with neurological conditions, is "fighting for survival" after the coronavirus halted its fundraising efforts.

The Rainbow Centre in Fareham had several events planned every month this year to maximise awareness of the charity, to generate as much funding as possible, but all of these events have had to be cancelled, along with the closure of three charity shops, which means its "income has plummeted".

Helen Somerset How, Operations Director and Co-Founder of The Rainbow Centre, said: “We rely on fundraising to cover the majority of our costs so when we thought lock-down would only last until June we thought we would have the rest of the summer to fundraise. This is clearly not the case.

"We furloughed the majority of our staff, closed our charity shops and cut all costs to the bare minimum. Our income plummeted. We are grateful for the few donations we’ve received from community groups and Trusts, and Government support has been welcomed but we are spending our limited reserves and the longer it takes before significant fundraising can restart the less chance we have to survive. That would be a tragedy for many families."

One of the families who have benefited from the charity and see the services it provides as a "lifeline" is the Plesteds family, as five-year-old Ivy Plesteds - who has a rare brain disorder which gives her impaired movements and speech - has been attending the Fareham branch of The Rainbow Centre since she was just a year old.

Ivy is a part of the centre's family, and she regularly attended support sessions before lockdown with her older brother Oliver, and younger sister Flora, and since then, the charity has been uploading Facebook videos in the morning and afternoon of each day, which families can view at any time.

Matt, Ivy's dad said: "I can’t tell you what a lifeline these sessions have been for the whole family, not just for Ivy. Some of the sessions are just focussed on Ivy’s specific needs but the afternoon story time is brilliant for the all the children. They look forward to seeing familiar faces reading and talking to them, reminding them to sit up straight at the same time as teaching them the themes and values within the stories.

“This lockdown period has been very challenging but we are so grateful to Rainbow for providing support and regular structure to our days in isolation, helping to maintain Ivy’s development.”