A charity which provides 300 Bradford children's groups with affordable craft materials and play sets will be forced to close within weeks if new funding cannot be secured.

Bradford Area Play Association (BAPA), which was set up in Baildon 28 years ago, will close its doors for good if new sources of money cannot be secured.

The group collects and makes good scrap materials to be used for children's play.

The materials are then bought from BAPA by member groups, such as Brownies, after-school groups and play schools.

BAPA also runs courses to show groups how to use the materials and it has a stock of netball, football, karaoke machines and badge-making sets available for groups to hire.

But now the charity has been forced to sell some of its less popular equipment to bridge the funding gap for a few weeks. Manager Gill Halligan said during her four years with BAPA she had seen a slow decline in income and the group would soon be forced to close.

"It's got increasingly difficult. We did have reserves to relocate to a new building but we have eaten into those reserves. We want to close while we are still solvent rather than do it improperly. It's a matter of weeks," she said.

BAPA committee member Diane West said a change in the focus of the group meant previous funding sources were no longer eligible.

"A number of the services BAPA used to provide, such as NVQ training in child care, parenting and first aid courses, are now being provided by other sources and funding has been redirected as a result," she said.

Mrs West said BAPA was now more focussed on recycling and providing craft materials.

Mrs West said the location of the group, in Baildon rather than central Bradford, also ruled out some funding sources.

Community artist Becky Blackman, who also works with children's play scheme the Adventure Play Experience, said BAPA was invaluable. "It's just an all-round great service that we have in the area. It's unique for Bradford and we can't afford to lose it," she said.

Shipley MP Philip Davies (Con) said he would be looking for ways to secure funding for BAPA. He said: "Clearly it's very bad that they are having these problems and their future might be in jeopardy.

"Organisations that provide services for the local community should be supported, so I will do what I can to help them secure funding."

To contact BAPA about funding or for more information telephone (01274) 597704.