The Times newspaper is reporting that the Camelot Foundation is under financial pressure from its owners, the Camelot lottery organisation, and may be forced to close it’s doors.

This would be a huge blow to the UK, as the Camelot Foundation gives away huge amounts of money to charitable organisations that wouldn’t normally receive grants and funding. The Camelot Foundation is intrinsically involved in Self-Injury Awareness, and their research (The National Inquiry into Young People and Self-Harm) with the Mental Health Foundation, was a real step forward.

More than that, the Camelot Foundation is helping launch a new web service for young people and people of all ages who are affected by self-injury, and if the Foundation is wound-down, their funding and their governance would be put at risk, or withdrawn completely.

Why do I know this? Because LifeSIGNS is part of this new initiative. LifeSIGNS is part of a Consortium, a partnership, aiming to launch the biggest and brightest online support resource in the UK.

Only the Camelot Foundation had the insight to recognise the national need to address self-harm / self-injury at this scale, and their funding is crucial.

Reading the news online, I’m struck by what a blow this is to the UK. The Camelot Foundation provides funding to organisations and projects that would otherwise not receive such support. Children and young people will miss-out on some amazing programmes if the Camelot Foundation is not around to guide and support smaller organisations like our own.

LifeSIGNS, along with our partner charities, is benefiting from the Camelot Foundation’s strategic guidance and financial support to create the biggest and brightest support resource for young people and people affected by self-harm in the UK. While we hope we can continue to create this new resource, it is worrying indeed that funding is in doubt.

I can only implore the shareholders to support the Camelot Foundation until at least 2009 as planned, so that the Foundation can continue delivering hope to the hundreds of thousands of people their financial support touches.

Read the news report at the Times Online, and leave your comments!