by Vicky SpavinCHARITY group Minster Lions has leapt to the aid of a closure-threatened special needs nursery in York after reading about its plight in the Evening Press.

St Dymphna's Pre-School Nursery for Children With Special Needs provides respite care for up to ten families every day and costs about £60,000 to run each year. It receives £10,000 in grants.

Last month, the Evening Press revealed that the nursery, which moved to its new home at West Bank Park, Holgate, just three years ago, could be forced to close if much-needed cash wasn't found.

But the York charity Minster Lions responded to the Evening Press appeal with a donation of £1,500 and adopted St Dymphna's as its main charity for the forthcoming Motor And Leisure show on Knavesmire on May 24 and 25.

Gordon Harrison, of Minster Lions, said the charity needed all the help it could get.

"They are a dedicated people doing a very difficult job," he said.

"Unfortunately they can't afford to run the place so we felt we wanted to support them."

The nursery provides a day care centre for children with severe learning difficulties. If it was forced to close it would mean heartbreak for hard-pressed families who rely on the centre to share the burden of caring, said St Dymphna's team leader Moira Taylor.

"It's brilliant what these people have done, they are really helping us," she said.

"There is still a lot of money needed but it's just a case of surviving from month to month.

"We would just like to say a big thank you for all the phone calls of support and to all the people that want to help us, we will be in touch. St Dymphna's must not be allowed to close."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.