Charity organisations in Southend are facing a severe shortage of help, says the town's volunteer bureau.

Up to 200 vacancies for part-time volunteer work exists in Southend's 180 charity shops and groups and some are having to cut back services in a bid to cope.

The problems seems to be that fewer people can spare time to do charity work, said Rachelle Rubin, Southend Voluntary Bureau co-ordinator.

She said many groups only needed voluntary help for a few hours a week but could not find recruits. She said: "There seems to be a lot of other demands on people's time nowadays. At the moment we have about 200 vacancies which charity groups have called in about. In the last two or three years the needs of charities have grown considerably."

The Voluntary Bureau is based in Southchurch Road and has been open for 12 years to help charity groups in the town.

Later this year they move to £450,000 refurbished offices in Alexandra Street, paid for partly by lottery grants.

One of the groups it supports is Meals on Wheels, run by the Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS). The group has 150 volunteers on its books - most of who are over 60 - and is based at South Queensway House in Essex Street.

The service helps about 300 pensioners and others in Southend throughout the week but can be short by as many as 15 volunteers a day to run things effectively.

The bureau can be contacted on 01702 619489 and Meals on Wheels can be contacted on 01702610691.

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