Simon's sleepless nights over threat to his "little baby"

His injuries – sustained while working for a household removals business – left him 60 per cent disabled.

The issues he subsequently came across and needed help in sorting out gave him the idea of starting a charity to give a voice to disabled and vulnerable people in dealing with the problems and issues that life throws at them.

And so in 1995 Shropshire Peer Counselling & Advocacy Service, better known as PCAS, was born.

Since then it has helped over 10,000 of the most vulnerable people in Shropshire, including those with learning disabilities, and the disabled. The range of work is wide – mental health, social care, child protection, adult abuse, domestic violence, and so on.

"It's my little baby. That's how I always describe it," says Simon, who is the founder and the manager of the charity.

And now he is losing sleep because, as a result of coronavirus and a funding crisis, this charity which helps nearly 400 vulnerable people with disabilities each year faces the possibility that it might have to close at the end of November.

"It's an awful thought. It's difficult to sleep and it's affecting my mental health. I'm getting so stressed, not only because of keeping people in jobs, but what is going to happen to the people we are working with if we close down?

"I don't want somebody committing suicide because their lifeline has been taken away. We are a unique service. We work with people in their own homes giving long term help and support as long as they need it."

The irony is that PCAS, based in Oswestry, has never been busier.

"We are an advocacy service, and advocacy is a difficult concept for those who don't need it, but it means standing alongside people, and helping them have a voice, challenging issues and situations where they need help, and fighting for their rights."

With its six advocates, currently PCAS is helping over 200 people, and there are so many now on the waiting list – nearly 70 – that it has temporarily had to stop referrals, 90 per cent of which come from social workers.

Covid-19 has of course been a major challenge for the service, which likes to see people in their own home, but it is lack of cash which is casting a dark cloud over its survival prospects.

Simon says: "We need to find £180,000 to stop us closing. We are 100 per cent reliant on grant funding, and they come to an end on November 30.

"We get no statutory funding. With the horrible onset of coronavirus over the last 12 months, our service has been inundated with referrals for help.

"I am applying for grants but there are so many charities or groups applying for grant funding that the odds of getting a grant are around one in 10, and in some cases one in 20.

"We are not a popular cause. We don't pull at the heartstrings like cancer charities and the big national charities out there.

"Our problem is that we are so small that we haven't built up our marketing and publicity as we haven't had the manpower to do that, or fundraising, and have concentrated on supporting the clients we help.

"But now it's critical that we get some help from the community or businesses. People can make a donation to our website (https://shropshirepcas.co.uk), and we would like people perhaps to do some fundraising events on our behalf, although I appreciate that's difficult at this time.

"My conundrum as a manager is to think of ways people can help to keep us open. It's so imperative that we survive. I don't want us to be a victim of coronavirus.

"For me the situation is awful and I feel I have the weight of the world on my shoulders."

Anyone who can help can contact Simon on simon@shropshirepcas.co.uk