West Devon?s leading environmental charity is to close. The charity, Westden, this week announed that due to the current funding climate and to the prevalence of sustainable development work by other organisations, it has decided to cease operations. Staff will complete current commitments on the Communities in Action, Teenage Cookery Workshops, Plugging the Leaks and Climate Change Communication projects and expect to cease all project delivery work by March 2008. Westden was initiated by a group of people committed to starting an environmental network in West Devon. In 1994, Oz Osborne was appointed as its co-ordinator. Since then, Westden has accessed more than £4.7-million in project funding. Westden?s original purpose and its strength over many years has been the community consultation processes around environmental issues and sustainable development that have enabled better communication between the public and the statutory agencies. Westden won several national awards for its pioneering work in this area. Those processes are now a statutory requirement of the local authority and Westden has been privileged to remain involved as a ?critical friend?. Westden said that recently, funding available to charities has fallen dramatically with reductions in funding from Europe, local authorities, the Young People?s Service, Defra, Big Lottery and the Primary Care Trust to name but a few. A Westden spokesman said: ?For Westden, this has meant increased competition, and that we are no longer eligible to apply for funding that has supported us, in some cases for as long as nine years. ?Many funders are reporting record numbers of applications ? 20 or more times what they can afford to support.? Westden recently welcomed continuing support from several local funders, particularly West Devon Borough Council, Dartmoor National Park Authority and Devon Community Foundation. ?However, we have found it increasingly difficult to secure the funding required to maintain our level of activity despite a number of innovative approaches to potential funders.? Chair of the Westden trustees, Gill Gorbutt said: ?This is a sad decision and I would like to thank the many people who have expressed their sadness and best wishes over the last week. ?We have been sorry to lose many excellent staff over the past two years and sadly we have been obliged to give notice to the remaining four staff and two on maternity leave.? There will be a celebration of Westden?s work on Wednesday January 23 at 7pm in Tavistock ? venue to be confirmed. Anyone who has questions about the closure decision or who wishes to attend the celebration, is asked to contact Westden director, Anna Kennedy in the office on 0845 345 5077.