WEST Somerset-based charity CLOWNS is facing an uncertain future after failing to secure almost £200,000 of vital grant aid. The organisation, which is celebrating its 13th year of providing a huge range of mobile outreach family support and play opportunities across the district, has just heard that a bid for £198,000 from the Big Lottery's Reaching Communities fund has been unsuccessful. The money would have been made available over four years and would have helped cover the running costs of the scheme plus £50,000 towards a new playbus. "We are so disappointed," said CLOWNS co- ordinator Kathy Morton. "We had put in so many hours to complete the application and felt that we met all the criteria, but they have told us that they had applications worth £58 million and were only able to provide £6m to good causes." CLOWNS has faced a series of funding crises over the years, providing challenges for its trustees and staff and forcing them to relentlessly fundraise and chase grants and donations. Over the last three years it has benefited from SureStart funding but this is about to end and late last year it heard it was to lose £35,000 of Government cash. Ms Morton said the project, which included Tumbling Toddler sessions, a toy library, playbus and holiday playschemes, costs around £140,000 a year to run. "We are just about OK for this year but our concerns are for the future. We only have around £60,000 of the money we need to get through next year. "We have had to tell the 14 part-time staff we employ about our predicament and we are digging deep into the charity's reserves to keep the project going for the next 12 months. "They have reacted brilliantly - they are all so committed to the organisation and have pledged to stick with it for as long as possible, even though the future of their jobs is uncertain." Many local organisations have supported CLOWNS and an auction of promises held earlier this month brought in a staggering £3,200, to be shared with fellow local charity Home-Start West Somerset, which is also facing funding shortages. And Winsford lad Freddie Hayes staged a sponsored hair cut in aid of CLOWNS. "We are always heartened by this local support with people organising their own activities to help show us how much they value the charity," said Ms Morton. "We will use the money carefully and wisely and can often use their funds as match funding for additional grants, but we are now at our wits end to know where to go for the future. "We feel that we have tried every avenue available to us." Ms Morton said families had learned to trust the charity and the work it did. "They are so appreciative that we are able to take our programmes to where they live. "Over 500 different children access the services of CLOWNS. If CLOWNS is not able to continue to provide this service many would have no other provision available to them. "Health visitors, speech and language therapists, learning advisors and many other statutory agencies make use of the CLOWNS visits by meeting parents in the special relaxed atmosphere which we are able to provide. "We are able to pick up problems at an early stage and help support parents and children to overcome these problems before they become a major concern." Services provided by CLOWNS include weekly visits to seven villages by the playbus, Tumbling Toddler sessions in 14 different venues and a toy library which is used by more than 430 families. In addition, the holiday play schemes visit 12 different villages during the summer, providing activities for school age children up to 13. In all, more than 1,500 various sessions are run each year. A recent visit from a researcher from NEF (the New Economics Foundation), which is looking at rural livelihoods, concluded that services like the CLOWNS playbus were a vital part of the social glue that keeps rural communities together. Dr Jessica Sellick said: "In areas like Exmoor where lack of public transport and changes to rural life have left communities increasingly isolated, bringing public services into the heart of the community is key. "This is an asset rural communities can't afford to lose." Any individual or organisation interested in helping CLOWNS or accessing its services should contact the charity's office on 01643 707190.