A CHARITY which supports young mums in Great Yarmouth may have to close its children's nursery due to a drop in funding.

The Girls Friendly Society (GFS), which also supports vulnerable women, said it had always run the nursery at a deficit but due to a 'significant decrease in public funding' and a reduction of grant income, it can no longer cover the financial gap.

The charity runs projects across the country and supports women in Great Yarmouth at its South Quay base by providing courses for members, aged between 13 and 25, to improve their confidence and learn new skills such as cooking and parenting.

It also runs a sheltered housing scheme that accommodates 10 young mums with children up to the age of three,

The charity said the nursery's deficit had grown over the years and now stands at �55,000.

And although it worked with teenage mums the introduction of the Family Nurse Practitioner scheme had led to a reduction in the demand for its work with these members, and it was not part of the group's 'core business' to provide child care.

Trustees of the charity said they had considered the closure of the nursery with 'great sorrow' but they were determined to find alternative solutions for those that might be effected.

A GFS statement said: 'If these proposals are agreed, we will do our best to ensure they are taken care of, either by asking other organisations to support them or by sign posting them to relevant services.

'We apologise to everyone who may be affected but sadly we need to ensure the organisation continues its valuable work with girls and young women, although not on such a large scale.

'Hopefully in the future we can grow again.'