The Salvation Army has almost raised enough money to close a funding gap that threatens its programmes and services.

The charity made an urgent appeal just before Christmas after it suffered a 50 per cent reduction in funds for its Red Shield Appeal, compared with 2024.

What’s more, it said the shortfall came at a time when the demand for its services was “greater than ever”.

Captain Dennis Maybury told The Royal Gazette that while the charity has not yet reached its annual goal of $1 million, it is closing the gap.

“We are close to a million, I can tell you that,” Mr Maybury said. “We can give a definitive figure at the end of this month.

“With our fundraising efforts having been down by 50 per cent on the same time last year, there was always potential that would put the programmes at risk so we issued an urgent appeal.

“Community generosity has helped us to meet our fundraising goals to provide stability to our programmes and services. We hope to raise the full amount in the next few weeks.”

Mr Maybury added: “We feel good, we feel confident. We feel the Christmas appeals helped.”

However, with demand for the charity’s services on the up, challenges may arise in the future, Mr Maybury added.

He said: “We do know that a shortfall could put stress on our daily meal programmes that help to sustain our community.

“We were able to carry out our programmes but we will need more money to do that as demand increases. We haven’t calculated as yet, that decision will be made in the coming weeks.

“We are so thankful for this outpouring of support during this last push. We are hopeful to be able to give the community a good report in the coming weeks.”

Funds raised for The Salvation Army support a range of services including food banks and meal programmes, emergency shelters for individuals and families experiencing homelessness, addiction recovery services, disaster response and outreach to vulnerable seniors.

• Donations can be made at Red Kettle locations around the island, online to the Red Shield Appeal at SalvationArmy.bm/donate, or by calling 292-0601