THE district's only refuge for battered wives and their children has been saved from closure following an appeal for help in the Shuttle/Times and News.

Members of the public and businesses who read about its financial plight in January rallied round to enable Wyre Forest Women's Aid, which set up the centre three years ago, to keep the doors open.

The refuge's future was thrown into doubt when an application to renew a £190,000 grant over the next three years was turned down by the Community Fund.

Spokeswoman Jayne Barker said the refuge had been inundated with letters, phone calls and e-mails of support from the public and businesses who had raised £2,000.

She said it had also secured £20,000 from Children in Need, £12,000 from Worcestershire County Council's social services department, £11,000 from the Eveson Fund Trust. In addition it received £2,000 from Worcestershire County Domestic Violence Forum to help fund the helpline.

She said this meant the future of the refuge was secure for at least 12 months, although there was still a need for cash to fund outreach workers.

She added: "We still need to obtain long-term funding but at least we know we're safe for the next 12 months. The trouble is that you could spend these months trying to get funding for the following 12 months.

"We'd like to thank everyone who read the Shuttle/Times & News and who rang, wrote or e-mailed. "We've also had a lot of support from agencies such as social services saying they can't imagine us not being around because of the work we do."

In January, workers at the centre spoke of their "horror, tears and shock" at news of the refusal of funding and the threat to the "dream and vision that had saved countless lives".

The fight to set up a safe house for female victims of domestic violence and their children began in 1994 when the county council agreed to fund a training project for volunteers to run a helpline for victims. The refuge opened in 1999.

The project currently employs eight people including two part-time outreach workers, a full-time and a part-time refuge worker and two children's workers.

By February, the project had supported more than 1,146 women and 1,612 children.

Last year, 63 women and 109 children stayed at the Wyre Forest refuge, while double that number were turned away due to a lack of space.