The 40 charity groups have spoken out after their applications for money were turned down, leading to fears over their futures.

And now Gerry Corcoran, of Communities Against Poverty, is organising a meeting of all the groups to plan a joint campaign.

Each of the voluntary organisations has been told they have until the end of this month to appeal against their funding cuts. But it emerged yesteray that one - the Vauxhall Neighbourhood Council - has already had to make redundancies after its grant was cut from £170,000 to £40,000.

Marie McGiveron, of the neighbourhood council, said: "I have had to hand out 18 redundancy notices today and I don't know who is going to pay their redundancy pay.

"Without us, there would be no community work around here."

Of plans to fight the cuts, Mr Corcoran, whose group has lost £35,000 of grants, said: "We will do everything we can to fight these cuts. The effect they will have on voluntary groups in Liverpool will be devastating.

"Many, including ourselves, face closure, leaving vulnerable people living in poverty without a voice."

The rejections came on January 10 after the Voluntary Sector Funding Panel considered 136 separate applications.

The council said many did not fit the criteria while some application forms had not been filled in properly.

Not all charities have been completely refused funding. Many voluntary groups will still be unable to continue after being offered reduced sums.

Sue Turner, of the Law Information Centre in Vauxhall, said their normal amount of 123,000 had been reduced to £50,000.

She added: "That amount is worse than nothing. We would not be able to run the service we need to.

"The staff would not be in long enough to offer advice and would be unable to attend tribunals.

"If the public have to represent themselves it can be very daunting and you can make mistakes."

Riverside MP Louise Ellman is urging council chief executive Sir David Henshaw to rethink the cuts.

She said: "It is unacceptable for the council to reduce help to volunteers dedicated to eliminating poverty across our region."

A spokesman for Liverpool City Council said: "We received complaints saying that we had not given the charities enough time to appeal so we extended that until January 31. We are unable to comment while an appeal is happening."

A meeting for voluntary communities will be held today at The Breckfield Centre, Breckfield Road North, Anfield. Ring 0151-288 8403.



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