AN OPEN Door will close for good later this year as a group which has provided support for parents with young children in Okehampton for more than 20 years is forced to fold.

Open Door Family Support Group has been unsuccessful in its latest funding bid and its committee has taken the decision to close at the end of December.

Janice Goodwin, chair of the committee, said it was with ?much regret and deep sadness? that the decision not to carry on had been taken.

She said: ?We have managed to run the project for four and a half years since social services and NCH withdrew their funding from the then family centre. However, finding funding for existing projects is becoming more and more difficult.?

The Open Door Family Support Group has been running for 22 years, and provides a toy library and regular drop-in sessions at Tenby House in Okehampton for families in the town.

Mrs Goodwin said: ?We would like to think that the Government?s announcement that Sure Starts will operate all over the country will mean that the families of Okehampton and the surrounding villages will get a new service fairly quickly.

?It is ironic that new services can get three years full funding, and yet projects such as Open Door, that are well-used and have proven track records, are having to constantly compete with other voluntary groups for funds.

?These new groups will also be joining the funding hunt in three years? time, as the availability of funds shrinks.?

Mrs Goodwin said Open Door now had several of its original babies bringing their own children to the toy library and drop-in, and it was for those families which the committee had striven to keep the service running.

Almost 50 families from Okehampton and the surrounding areas regularly use the service. For many families, the toy library, which allows them to hire educational and recreational toys at low prices, has been a handy service.

Mrs Goodwin said the committee wanted to thank project worker Marilyn MacCullock, for all her hard work and for ?running such a professional and welcoming service?.

She added: ?I know that all the families who have attended Open Door will want to join us in thanking her.?