A CHARITY is appealing for help to raise £7,000 to make sure affordable activities for youngsters are staged again this year.

Summer Fun 4 All is facing the shortfall after the deadline for apply for funding from the Lottery was missed.

Without the money the regular sessions the volunteers organise for primary school-aged children in Darwen throughout the summer holidays will have to be stripped back.

Now the charity, which was established in 2003, is calling on businesses in the town to help it raise the funds needed in order to ‘not let the children down’.

Chairwoman Dilys Dyer said: “It’s our own fault really but we don’t want the children to miss out because of a mistake.

“We are all volunteers and the work we do for the charity is from home.

“Most of us work and we had to cancel a meeting because we were all very busy.

“We have never been caught out like this before and we just don’t want to disappoint the children.

“We have already secured £712 from the Co-op in Darwen which will pay for one activity.

“The charity was set up to offer affordable summer activities for children between the ages of five and 11 in the town.

“Places like Blackburn Youth Zone are not accessible to our children as it costs to get there.

“We offer sessions that are affordable for parents and make a real difference.”

The latest funding call comes after the charity faced an uncertain future when money from Children in Need came to an end in 2014.

However donations flooded in from firms in the area so that the summer’s activities could go ahead.

Since then funding has been secured from the Lottery.

Around 250 children take part in a range of activities every year.

For more information on the sessions or to donate to the charity e-mail summerfun4all@hotmail.co.uk.