AN AWARD-winning charity which helps thousands of Aire Valley people tackle health, drink and drugs problems could be forced to close after losing a large slice of its funding amid a Bradford Council review.

HALE (Health Action Local Engagement) has been at the heart of promoting well-being with its distinctive bus that tours areas of need in Shipley, Bingley and Baildon.

The single-decker, with trained staff offering advice on diet, sexual health and drug and alcohol issues, has constantly targeted young people where they publicly gather and also helped isolated people of any age across the ward.

But HALE said Bradford health chiefs had told them that, amid changing priorities, Shipley is now deemed "too well off" to need such help.

Before the general election and in advance of any further Government spending cuts, HALE said public health bosses at Bradford Council had demanded that it tender for a new annual contract worth £194,000 - with the strict insistence it pull out of Shipley and concentrate on specific groups in other parts of the district.

And now HALE has been told it will not get that contract.

Project manager and HALE founder member Natasha Thomas said the loss of the £194,000 funding could be a fatal blow as historically the Council’s cash accounted for some two thirds of HALE’s annual income.

She said staff were shocked that Shipley people, rich and poor, would now lose their expert help.

"It's brutal and it's sickening. Everyone is devastated.

"It's just a such waste of time and money spent building an expert team - trained people who know Shipley and its problems inside out," Ms Thomas said.

"We deal personally with 4,000 people a year.

"We have now lost two thirds of our income and only have enough reserves to keep going until Christmas and could close.

"The new contract was specifically for us not to work in Shipley, as there is now not considered to be enough need in the area.

"We had to apply for it as the choice was that or no other chance of funding.

"The idea that Shipley is too well off is just crazy.

"It has the largest population aged over 84 years in the district and we are based in Crag Road, Windhill, which is in the one per cent most deprived areas of Britain.

"And on the day we heard we'd lost the funding, one of our staff talked a Shipley man out of committing suicide," she said.

An independent audit by Huddersfield University last year showed every £1 spent on HALE's work on sexual health saved the public purse £7 and similarly £1 spent saved £11 on health and social care issues.

Ms Thomas said they were now seeking alternative funding.

"We are desperate for new donations, we must carry on," she said.

Councillor Simon Cooke, leader of the Conservative group on Bradford Council, sits on the council's Health and Wellbeing board and said he felt some would see this as Bradford starving Shipley of resources.

"It really is undermining good work done for a long time and feels that the council is again choosing to take money out of Shipley," Cllr Cooke said.

A spokesman for the local authority said: "Bradford Council's Department of Public Health continues to fund a high number of support services to meet the health needs of residents right across the Bradford district.

"These services are regularly reviewed to meet the changing needs of the local population, within the constraints of a limited budget

"Over time, these reviews can always mean that service provision and providers can change to ensure the best match for the district and are not linked to changes in the department's budget."