LACK of financial support means an Andover charity, providing relief for young carers, may be forced to close by the summer.

A thank you gathering to celebrate the refurbishment of an Admirals Way bungalow for the group to use was marred by the fact that the Andover Young Carers' Project (AYCP) is £20,000 short on running costs.

The AYCP had a grant application for vital funding from Social Services at Hampshire County Council turned down. Although Test Valley Borough Council leases the bungalow to the group at a nominal rent, it has only given the group half the funding it requested.

Project manager Nicola Sage said: "I'm disappointed that after having come such a long way for three and a half years and working with 150 young people our future is in jeopardy.

"The focus now is on saving the Young Carers' Project, and we need all the help we can get because we do not have core funding."

The AYCP started in January 2001 with one full-time and one part-time staff member. It now has two full-time, five part-time paid staff and a team of 25 volunteers.

Many of the young carers who go to the group experience isolation through the pressures of caring because many of them spend their free time looking after disabled family members.

The AYCP provides a listening ear for young carers to share their concerns and pick up new skills designed to increase their confidence and self-esteem.

The Admirals Way bungalow, known as the Churchill bungalow, is used five times a week by the young carers and contains a cyber-caf and beanbag lounge for the children to use during the nightly Carers Club.

Despite the support from businesses which have donated furnishings, Nicola says they are desperate for more local support.

She said: "I don't want to worry the children but this is about the need to go public. The focus now is on saving the Andover Young Carers' Project."

The AYCP is one of Test Valley Mayor Pat West's charities and she has watched it grow from a fledgling group to a major charity.

She said: "We owe it to these children to do something and there's a crying need for the young carers group to continue.

"If we have just 10 local companies putting in £2,000 each I feel we should be able to do something."

To make a donation of any size to the AYCP, phone Nicola Sage on 01264 333788.