A centre providing vital support to disabled people said it is facing closure when its funding ends this year.

Waltham Forest Disability Resource Centre (WFDRC) in Crownfiled Road, Leytonstone, has been providing education, sport and social activities to some of the borough’s most vulnerable people since 1988.

However council funding has been withdrawn from April, leaving its future in serious doubt.

WFDRC manager Peri Stanley said central government changes to the way money is distributed meant fewer disabled people are entitled to personal support under tough new funding criteria set by the council.

The changes have also resulted in an annual council grant, worth £100,000 last year, being withdrawn.

Ms Stanley is now calling on the authority to honour a previous pledge to charge the centre a ‘peppercorn’ rent when it moved from Warner Road in Walthamstow in 2010 to enable it to continue providing support. 

She said: “Day services are losing funding because the council is switching to ‘personal budgets’ for disabled individuals so they can spend their own budget on the services they need.

“In itself this is an excellent idea, but the criteria are being set extremely high so only people with critical disabilities will be eligible.

“There are a lot of people who will not meet the very high criteria.

“For example, we see somebody who didn’t get a personal budget who was paralysed down one side of their body. This person was not considered disabled enough.

“This is happening to more and more people.”

Ms Stanley said the support provided by the centre play a vital role in improving people’s quality of life.

“We support people to use sports centres, introduce them to the rest of their community – it isn’t just about them being here,” she added.

“The council has ended our contract – last year we had £100,000 in funding.

“We accept that we will not be fully funded but at the moment we are paying £40,000 for rent and service charges.

“If they would allow us to have the premises for free we could have a fighting chance.

In an open letter to the leader of the council, Chris Robbins, the centre’s chairwoman Heather Gower said more and more people are using the service.

A petition has also been started calling for the issue to be resolved.

The council has been asked to comment.

Click here to see the petition.