A SWINDON charity which supports people with learning difficulties faces closure in less than three months unless more funding can be found.

Swindon Advocacy Movement has been operating from Milton Road since it was founded with Lottery cash in 1995. The charity works with adults with learning disabilities to help them understand their rights and to speak up for themselves.

In November SAM's co-ordinator Diana Thomas told the Evening Advertiser that the charity had just enough money to operate until March, and she had written to Swindon Council explaining the predicament.

Now, almost two months later she still has not received a reply.

Diana, 28, said: "We were supposed to hear something in the second week of December but no one has come back to me, and no money has come forward.

"I have written about 100 letters to different sections of the council, from the councillors themselves to social services.

"It's pretty poor I haven't received any acknowledgement from anyone.

"It will be a huge loss to Swindon if we have to close. There is nowhere else around here that offers anything like this service and I don't know where I'll have to refer our clients .

"We help with crisis situations such as homelessness, going to court, debts, employment and we run a parents' service to help with issues such as child protection proceedings.

"SAM needs a service level agreement with the Council that will keep us secure for three years.

"Funding has previously come from sources such as Nationwide and Zurich, but these companies don't finance us if the council has not committed in the first place."

SAM needs £75,000 a year for running costs. Last year it received 71 new referrals, mainly from social services, as well as the existing clients. In all the charity helped 160 people last year.

Graham Pearson, Swindon Council's assistant director of adult services, said: "The Swindon Learning Disability Partnership Board, which funds organisations like Swindon Advocacy Movement, has agreed to fund the Swindon Advocacy Movement until March 2004.

"The board is considering which groups it will fund for the coming financial year and therefore cannot give a firm commitment at this stage.

"Swindon Council recognises the valuable contribution this group has made and hopes that through the board, an appropriate agreement can be reached."

Meanwhile Community Mediation Swindon, a voluntary group that mediates between quarrelling neighbours, has been saved from the chop thanks to a £5,000 grant from Zurich.

But the celebrations of the group, which has helped 180 disputes, will be short-lived unless more money is found in the next couple of months.

Alex Emery