The pleas for help of people involved in the Camp Spirit programme, which is facing a reduction in funding, should not go unanswered.

In the last few years, there has been growing recognition that reducing demand by helping addicts to end their drug addictions is a key component in winning the war on drugs.

Based on the statements of the chairman of Focus, which runs the Camp Spirit programme, on the need for a review of the scheme, it seems clear that not all of the facts on how it has been administered have come out. But what is clear is that the scheme is having some success, and if it has managed to keep a few people off the streets, then it deserves support.

Helping just one person to kick his or her addiction means one less person buying drugs, one less person in prison and one more person contributing to society. That in and of itself is a victory and it should not be thrown away. To some extent, the programme is a victim of its own success as the need to fund transitional housing for graduates of the three-month programme on Darrell's Island has used up more of the organisation's funds than it expected.

Given that, there should be a way to ensure that the scheme continues while the review is underway. What is needed is a "white knight" to come forward to assist Focus in continuing the programme until the review is completed and funding from the Council Partners and elsewhere is increased.

But Camp Spirit should not be allowed to go the way of other programmes - like His House some years ago - which were succeeding and then disappeared for lack of funding and the "not in my back yard" syndrome.