A BEREAVEMENT charity will have to close unless it can find £10,000 in the next two weeks.

PEAL (Parents Experien-cing Adult Loss) is making a desperate plea for either individuals or companies to provide the money.

The volunteer-run charity, which supports parents who have lost adult children and had plans to expand to support other family members, has twice been refused Lottery grants and now faces certain closure unless someone can provide the funds.

Diana Williams, who founded the support service in 1999 and is now a patron, tearfully called the threatened loss of PEAL a tragedy.

She said: "I'm finding this all very difficult. We've helped so many people and there are always families, brothers and sisters, who need support. Our service has been much used over the years."

In February, the impending closure of the charity was sounded when its most re-cent Lottery funding application was refused.

Mrs Williams said: "The coffers are empty, and unless someone or some company can give us a five-figure sum within the next two weeks, that will be it. We don't have any more time. The fact is that on Saturday, May 19, PEAL will die."

It costs about £40,000 a year to run the charity. Many parents who used the services, which range from one-to-one support to telephone counselling and group therapy, had lost their children in sudden circumstances, such as road accidents.

There were plans to expand services to support grandparents, but when funds dwindled these had to be shelved.

On Saturday, May 19, PEAL is holding an extraordinary general meeting at its base in the St Swithun's Institute, The Trinity, Worcester.

Anyone who can help or step forward as a trustee is urged to call PEAL's support services manager Marion Neary, on 01905 723001, as soon as possible.