A FIVE-figure sum could save the crucial county charity that's close to collapse - but it's needed now!

Without the prospect of ever-popular raft races to keep it afloat, Dial-a-Ride, the high dependency transport service carrying around 40,000 passengers a year in the Hereford area alone, is about to go under.

Chair Trish Hales calls the situation 'critical'. Cutbacks, including redundancies, cessation of operations in Ross-on-Wye and the likely removal of some rural routes, kick in next week.

And it might only be a matter of months before Dial-a-Ride is off the road altogether.

There is a lifeline - an urgent injection of £10,000-£15,000, on top of existing grant, offers the charity a way out. However, it has to happen soon.

With finances already tight, Dial-a-Ride didn't need this year's 100 and 40 mile Wye raft races falling victim to foot and mouth restrictions. The events were expected to bring in at least £25,000.

That's money much needed to meet annual running costs of £148,000. At least £50,000 goes on insuring and maintaining 11 special-adapted mini-buses - most of which are clocking close to 15 years of use.

Losing the raft races leaves Dial-a-Ride effectively dependent on a £19,500 grant from Herefordshire Council, an estimated £12,000 from its second-hand bookshop and £2,000 from an associated shredding service.

For anything else, the cap comes out.

Trish says a sum somewhere between £10,000-£15,000 should see off 'immediate danger', buying breathing space so lottery grants and other alternative funding can be sought.

But any increase must be guaranteed annually, otherwise the cycle starts all over again. That grant aid hasn't kept pace with inflation is part of the problem.

Denying Dial-a-Ride over-reached original ambitions, Trish says the charity grew to meet a need identified among the county's disabled and elderly, and is now a vital asset to their daily lives. In Hereford alone, 3,200 passengers per month, paying at bus fare rates, use the service for such fundamentals as medical appointments and shopping.

"We're full to capacity and even turning people away. It's now about streamlining trips we can afford to make," says Trish.

The prospect of taking four or five buses out of service to make savings means 1,400 users will effectively be denied a vital access opportunity.

Already Dial-a-Ride has moved into smaller premises to cut accommodation costs. Redundancies among salaried staff are expected.

Some hope is on the horizon. The raft races should resume next year and various appeals on Dial-a-Ride's behalf continue. But it's the short-term situation that could see the end.

"There's no getting away from it, Dial-a-Ride is in a critical state," says Trish.