The group hopes to take over the running of the outdoor Portsmouth pool from the council, but needs to raise £5,000 to become a charity before it can even begin applying for grants and sponsorship.

Members already have more than £3,000, and are organising a Day at the Races event in the hope that this will get them to the total so they can have the asset transferred over from the council.

Sabrina Richards, vice-chairman of the group, said: 'The view is to have registered ourselves as a charity by autumn, so I hope this event will get us there.

'I don't see the £5,000 as a milestone; it is ongoing. But we can't go any further until we have this money – so this is really the beginning of things, and hopefully will get us to where we need to be.'

She added: 'We are doing the ground work and trying to see how we go about things like applying for lottery grants. But we can't actually do anything until we register ourselves as a charity.'

The race event is going to be held at the Greyhound Stadium, Tipner, on August 30, and tickets are being distributed at The Pizza House restaurant, Hilsea.

The money will be raised through people and businesses sponsoring dogs and races, from £10 to £100. Raffle tickets will also be sold on the day.

For more information contact Sabrina on (023) 9275 5248.