A LACK of support is to blame for the closure the Save the Children branch in the town where the charity has its roots.

This week it was announced that the Marlborough and Pewsey branch of Save the Children is to close.

Branch secretary Sally Butt said the only hope of it continuing will be if supporters come forward to form a new committee.

Mrs Butt said: "We are down to about three or four people on the committee and two us work full time.

"I have been on the committee for 19 years and it would have been nice to hand over to someone else.

"We have tried to get other people involved but when you mention the word committee they do not want to know."

Mrs Butt said the present committee had been working together for almost 20 years and that in the early days there were not as many charities around as there are today.

"The trouble is there are so many charities around today," she said.

Mrs Butt added: "We can support anyone who might be interested in taking it on and forming a new committee."

Anyone interested should contact the area representative Lizzie Gayton on (01225) 859378.

The charity Save the Children was set up in 1919 by sisters Eglantyne Jebb and Dorothy Buxton.

Miss Jebb later dubbed the White Flame because of her charity work taught at St Peter's School in Marlborough for a short while at the end of the 19th century.

While in Marlborough she had become concerned about the impoverished conditions some families lived in.

From Marlborough she moved to live with her mother in Cambridge where she was again disturbed by the poverty she saw.

With her sister, Miss Jebb set about tackling poverty and set up a new charity, the Save the Children Fund, and drafted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.

Save the Children has grown to become a worldwide charity and is the United Kingdom's largest international agency concerned with child health and welfare.

In 1970 Princess Anne was elected as president of the charity continuing the work of Countess Edwina Mountbatten who had previously held the office.

In 1996 Princess Anne was invited to Marlborough to unveil a heritage blue plaque to commemorate Miss Jebb's achievements.

The plaque can be seen on the front of the town library in High Street.

This was formerly St Peter's School where the charity founder worked while she was living in the town of Marlborough.