Portsmouth councillor confident family charity can survive

Portsmouth Family Welfare Association, which supports vulnerable people in the city, has revealed the council is putting up its rent to stay at Carnegie Library, in Fratton, from £700 a year to potentially £5,000 - a sevenfold increase.

Charity boss Jenny Johns fears it’ll never find the money to cover the increase.

But Portsmouth Tory councillor Linda Symes says the council wants to help the charity move to another premises, and get a partner on board to help with finances.

Cllr Symes said: ‘We are trying to find a new home for the charity, we are not chucking it out on the street. It’s not the way we do things.

‘We want to make things cost-effective. The charity hasn’t been asked to leave.’