A CHARITY which helps vulnerable people before they reach crisis hangs in the balance – unless it raises £30,000.

Voluntary Action Epping (VAEF) has been giving help and advice to people since 1983, but its future depends on sponsorship money.

Jacqui Folie, who has been working for the cause since 1996, has made a desperate plea for businesses or potential sponsors to come forward.

It is currently funded by grants from Essex County Council and Epping Forest District Council, but also relies on extra donations from the public.

The charity works on a number of projects at a time, including DIY work on people’s houses and gardening as well as giving out practical advice.

The charity employs 20 staff and has 60 volunteers on its books, running across North Weald, Loughton and Epping.

Christine Russell’s mother, Joan Shuttlewood, 97, has been using VAEF’s befriending service for the past four months.

Mrs Russell, 67, from North Weald, says the service has helped her mum become more active in her old age, and gives her something to look forward to on a weekly basis.

She said: “She was starting to get a bit fed up with herself being stuck indoors all day on her own. She goes to the club every week now. It is brilliant. She now talks to people and she has started to get her life back. She is much more talkative now. It has definitely made her life a bit more interesting.

“If the service was to shut down, she would withdraw and go back into herself which would be a shame. She now has something to look forward to every week.”

Mrs Folie said: “Sometimes it can be life changing. We offer the services to help with health and wellbeing.

“In some circumstances the befriending club can be the only contact they have with other people. That makes a massive difference.

“We do it to make people’s lives nicer. I think we are all experiencing cuts to services and it is going to affect some of the services we provide.

“We do receive grant funding from the council and we are really grateful for that. We have an excellent working relationship with them, but we do need to have further funding to continue to give our services.

“Where we live we have a great community spirit and we cannot afford to lose that. It is up to all of us to keep it.”