A CHARITY that helps provide help and support to mentally ill people has staved off closure after receiving a £1,000 donation.

The Four Leaf Clover Club, based in North Dorset, has been operating for 17 years but faced being closed after the group’s Government funding was cut in September.

However, the group now faces a bright future after receiving £1,000 from construction company Persimmon Homes South West.

The club runs out of the Zest Community cafe, providing people in the local community who suffer with mental health issues opportunities for socialising, training, voluntary work and employment.

A spokesperson for The Four Leaf Clover Club, said: “We are delighted that Persimmon Homes South West chose to support our charity. We are open six days a week and we are the only service easily accessible in an area with poor rural transport.

“In addition to a cafe, we run various groups and we’re a weekly point of contact for the local Credit Union Bank and the Food Bank”

Four Leaf Clover Club launched the ‘Invest in Zest’ fundraising campaign and has so far raised £23,000 towards the £50,000 per annum running costs.

The charity has received the windfall £1,000 from Persimmon Homes as part of its Community Champions Project, which will see a pot of £24,000 being given to local support groups and charities over the next 12 months.

The £1,000 donation has put The Four Leaf Clover Club within touching distance of its fundraising target of £25,000 by September.

Nina Hester, from Persimmon Homes South West, said the project was a way of supporting people across every city, town and village where the company works.

She said: “We are very proud to support The Four Leaf Clover Club, which is an extremely worthy cause.

“The work the charity does really helps people in Dorset. We felt compelled to assist when we heard about their financial headaches.”

Now, other groups can apply for funding from the Persimmon project. She said:

The Persimmon Community Champions initiative is a national programme where charities and groups can apply for funding up to the value of £1,000 to match money they have already raised themselves. Nationwide the company will donate a total of £750,000.

Ms Hester added: “We’ve made it really simple to apply for funding, and we’re urging groups and charities to apply for next month’s donation.”

For more information or to apply for funding visit www.persimmonhomes.com/charity