A CHILDCARE group in Malvern's Langland area is having to close its doors because of a shortage of cash and volunteers.

Langland Kids' Club, which meets at St Mary's church hall, Sherrards Green, will have to shut down at the end of this month.

Malcolm Thompson, the club's honorary secretary, said: "The club has one more week of summer activities, and that will be a camping expedition near Tenbury Wells which will go on as planned.

"But after that, we will have to stop. The committee will cease trading on August 31."

Three core club leaders, Brenda White, Jane Carter and Jean Griffin, will lose their jobs.

The closure will also mean the loss of an important childcare facility in the Langland area. Until now, it has offered after-school care during term-time and activities during the summer holidays.

The club has been attracting about 20-30 children a day during its summer play sessions, and about 15 youngsters each evening during term-time.

"This has arisen because of a number of factors, the first of these being finance - our earlier grants coming to an end and subsequent grants not becoming available in time to meet our needs," said Mr Thompson.

"Secondly, the existing committee had been seeking additional members, or replacement members, for some time. These have not been forthcoming."

He said the committee had been under some pressure since the departure of its chairman at the end of last year.

"Other factors also influenced the decision to close, especially the guidance of the Early Years and Childcare Service, who advised us that we needed to completely revise our club business plan if we were to continue."

Mr Thompson is not letting the grass grow under his feet. A meeting was due to be held last night (Thursday, August 9) to look at the possibility of founding a new club.

He said: "We hope that it will rise from the ashes, but it will not be soon. It takes time to prepare things like business plans.

"It is a great shame that Brenda and her team are being made redundant and we must pay tribute to them for their hard work and dedication."