Ulverston's successful Outreach Project, which provides help to local voluntary organisations, could be cut by half or lost altogether because of funding problems.

The project, part of South Lakeland Council for Voluntary Service, provides funding advice and support to voluntary and community organisations in the wards of Low Furness and Ulverston, High Furness East and High Furness West.

During 2004/05 the Ulverston Outreach Project enabled SLCVS to pilot working in new ways, which included having a permanent base in Ulverston. However, a report put before Cumbria County Council's local committee for South Lakeland said the project would now only fund two days a week of staff time to Ulverston. The new proposal was made because the pilot scheme was only financially viable as costs were being met by other SLCVS projects.

County councillor for Ulverston East, Wendy Kolbe, said it did not make sense: "This is a great service, one we want to hang on to and develop. Looking at the new proposals and new objectives we are talking about the overall capacity of SLCVS being reduced by at least half in Ulverston.

"What we had in the past was someone coming through from the Kendal office not knowing of organisations in Ulverston and not being pro-active and going back to the Kendal office. Doing that there's no chance of getting across to people or stirring up the kind of return we need."

County councillor for Ulverston West, Pauline Halfpenny, said it was essential the service stayed at least two days a week in Ulverston: "If people don't already know, the service in Ulverston is available to the people of High Furness East, High Furness West and Low Furness and Ulverston those that gravitate to Ulverston they are not going to come to Kendal to any office."

One of the reasons why funding is stretched is because the SLCVS is developing and promoting a new outreach funding advice service in Ambleside.

Windermere county councillor Joan Stocker said she did not want to see the Ulverston service affected but the SLCVS was doing its best to extend its work to Ambleside which would enable a lot of rural areas to be served.

The committee agreed to note the report but also recommended that there was no reduction to the Ulverston service.