THE FIGHT for a York charity's future has been taken directly to prime minister Tony Blair.

A desperate plea for the country's leader to save SNAPPY has been sent to 10 Downing Street by Sandra Shaw, from Skelton, whose 13-year-old son, Ashley, has cerebral palsy.

SNAPPY, which stands for Special Needs Activities and Play Provision York, is threatened with closure unless organisers can find £60,000 to fund it for the next year.

It is a service seen as essential by the York youngsters with learning difficulties who use it.

Mrs Shaw said: "Our kids have a hard enough time coping with their disabilities without having their only vital lifeline taken away.

"You don't find ordinary, everyday kids begging for money for their services. They are just there, provided and taken for granted.

"Isn't it hard enough that our kids are labelled as special needs, without having to beg the public for money to keep the only service they have outside of school?"

SNAPPY hit financial problems after cash grants from the Northern Rock Foundation and the National Lottery dried up.

The charity, which helps 280 young people in the city, had been due to close on Saturday.

But a last-minute reprieve was given by City of York Council which found £3,000, enough to let SNAPPY continue for a month while a desperate campaign to find the cash is waged.

If it is not found, projects for young people aged 14 to 19 and 19 to 25 years of age would be lost.

Although the initial need is for cash, Mrs Shaw and SNAPPY organisers are urging the Government to introduce permanent funding for such essential services.

SNAPPY relies on unpaid volunteers, grants and the generosity of the people of York.

Project development manager Anne Pemberton said: "SNAPPY is essential to schools, social services and carers. They rely on it and I think, in the future, it would have to have guaranteed funding.

"Young people, especially those with learning difficulties, need security. They need to know that SNAPPY will continue permanently. It causes them so much confusion when they don't know what is going to happen."

Ashley said: "If I could meet Mr Blair I would say to him that I don't want SNAPPY to close."

A spokeswoman for Tony Blair's office confirmed to the Evening Press that Mrs Shaw will be sent a response, although she could not confirm what it would say.

The Evening Press Save Snappy campaign has already won the backing of MPs and councillors. York Labour MP and Social Security Minister Hugh Bayley promised to meet charity representatives.

He said: "SNAPPY is absolutely vital for children with learning difficulties in York and it cannot be allowed to close.

"The first thing I need to do is meet and speak with the charity, and discuss what can be done."

Conservative MP for the Vale of York, Ann McIntosh, said the service must not be lost.

Liberal Democrats have invited Mrs Pemberton to tomorrow's City of York Council Shadow Executive meeting to discuss what the council can do.

Opposition leisure spokesman Mick Bradley said: "SNAPPY's work is of vital importance and must not be lost to the city."

Donations to help keep the group going can be made to SNAPPY, Burton Stone Community Centre, Evelyn Crescent, York YO3 6DR, or telephone 01904 640562.

adam.nichols@ycp.co.uk