One of Bermuda's leading children's charities is making a desperate plea for cash after finishing the year more than $50,000 off budget.

And executive director of the Family Learning Centre Martha Dismont last night said she believed Government should offer more financial support to the organisation, which costs $800,000 a year to run.

She said in her estimation, Government should pay around $200,000 a year to the charity, which employs social workers and psychologists to help resolve many issues with youngsters and their families.

The director said the charity dealt with about 200 families a year, some of them referred by the Ministry of Health and Family Services, and therefore Government should contribute more to the service than it did.

The Family Learning Centre, which aims to assist families and their children with social, behavioural and emotional problems, will later this week publish the charity's Christmas wish list in the press in a bid to encourage more people to donate money.

Mrs. Dismont said the learning centre dealt with some of the toughest family cases on the Island and therefore needed comprehensive programmes that only came at a cost. She said some families may have problems with drugs, others could be affected by abuse, and some children could be the victims of neglect.

But the centre, she said, worked with entire families and assisted children who had poor behaviour, emotional problems or few social skills in order to strengthen family links. She said: "As a result of the family needs, and the highly skilled people we have, our programme is a fairly comprehensive one, so it has a large budget.

"We get little bits from Government - only a small portion - for some parents fees... but we absolutely think Government should pay more towards the service.

"We are clearly servicing its clients. I think Government should give us about a quarter of our budget.

"We are an important service provider on the Island.

"Our goal is to strengthen families, and that is what Bermuda as a whole should be aiming towards. We are providing the services, but have to push and struggle for funds all the time. I think we should be helped a bit more."

Mrs. Dismont said the charity was thrilled when it was chosen as the benefactor for this year's charity telethon on ZBM.

However, she said despite $60,000 being pledged by both corporate and private donors, only about half of that amount has been realised.

Mrs. Dismont said about $30,000 was promised by the business sector beforehand, with the other half coming in from private telephone pledges on the night.

However, of the $30,000 promised by residents, the learning centre has only received $5,000.

The director said: "Before the telethon, ZBM told us that normally charities only received about 75 or 80 percent of the money promised because some people may not honour their pledges.

"We said that wasn't right, but here we are now and we have only received $5,000 so far from the night.

"We have an $800,000-a-year budget from January to December, so it's very important that people honour their pledges. We still need $50,000 to meet our budget for the end of the year and we just have two weeks to do it in."I want people to understand what fundraising is like in Bermuda. The Family Learning Centre is one of the largest non-profit organisations in Bermuda and we have some of the most highly skilled staff, but we simply cannot operate without funds."

But Mrs. Dismont said she fully understood the restraints of the Health and Family Services ministry, but said Government should be putting more money into this area in a bid to help strengthen the family and reduce social ills.

"I know Health and Family Services is doing the best it can with the way it's set up. But I think what all of the charities and agencies need to do, with Government's participation, is a real assessment of what the problems are in the community and the services we all provide. At the moment, I don't think, as a community, we are meeting all of those needs and it must be addressed.

"I think a lot of charities, including ours, need some serious programme development to tackle these issues. We know a lot of families are struggling in various ways, we need to pin point what those needs are and then cater to them."

Health Minister Nelson Bascome said the ministry paid a fee for every family case it referred to the learning centre, and could not afford to pay anything else. He said the ministry also had psychologists and social workers, which needed to be funded.

And he said the "bulk" of the centre's clients were not referred by the ministry, anyway. But he said when times were hard in Bermuda, and financial donations may be on the decline, it could be a time for some of the charities to look at the services they provided and either link up with similar causes, or make sure they were not providing a duplicated service.

He said: "With the shrinking amount of donor dollars out there, we should be looking to utilise every dollar in the best way possible.

"I would like to encourage private organisations and charities to work more closely together.

"There is an inter-service committee, of which my ministry is a part and Mrs. Dismont chairs, and I think that could be the committee to make the organisations accountable and also try to reduce any type of duplication of service, while ensuring there are no gaps in the service."

For more information about the Family Learning Centre, or to donate cash, call 295-1116, or write to the centre at 91 Reid Street, Hamilton.