A GROUP providing much-needed furniture to desperate local families says it may be forced to fold through lack of funds.

Bury Furniture Service, which distributes donated goods to needy recipients throughout the borough, hopes to secure a new financial lifeline before National Lottery money runs out in March.

Set up four years ago by Bury's Council for Voluntary Services (CVS), the group has helped nearly 1,500 families and individuals by recycling more than 13,000 items of furniture. It has four full-time employees.

The recipients, often young people unable to obtain benefits, are identified by referral groups such as Bury Women's Aid and Bury Young People's Housing Link. Service supervisor Alan Owen said: "We would all be very distressed if the service were to close. Apart from jobs that we would lose, it would be a devastating blow to the community.

"We provide the furniture base, like a sofas and beds, that everybody needs when they set up home, as well as extras like crockery and curtains.

"It makes council tenancies sustainable, which helps the local authority, and saves social workers a great deal of time."

The CVS is negotiating with potential new backers, such as Bury Council's housing department, to find a way to make the service viable on a permanent basis.

CVS manager Mike France said: "We're desperately trying to find some funding.

"The problem with options like the lottery is that they come to an end. What we want to find is a secure source to keep the project going."

A spokesman for Bury housing service said: "We have already expressed our strong support for this scheme and we are holding discussions to ensure that it does continue.

"At this stage, no funding has been formally identified, although several ideas are being investigated."