A charity set up in the memory of murdered schoolboy Damilola Taylor is on the brink of closure, according to Damilola’s father, Richard Taylor OBE.

The Damilola Taylor Trust was set up to help improve the life-chances of inner-city children following the murder of ten-year-old Damilola by two other children on a Peckham estate in 2000.

In previous years, the charity hosted the annual Spirit of London Awards to highlight the achievements of young people. The awards ceremony was hailed “an extraordinary achievement” by David Cameron, but funding shortfalls have seen the cancellation of recent events, and it has now launched an emergency appeal to stay open.

Taylor told Civil Society News: “The charity has been in trouble now for over three years. We have been trying to manage and organise things and let things continue to go ahead but this appeal is now the last option we have."

He said he was hoping for help from "the authorities" but that he has not had any offers of support from the local authority or the Home Office.

News of the Trust’s funding crisis broke yesterday in the Evening Standard, and Taylor said that since then, the charity has received calls from people offering to help fundraise.

He said the charity’s debts today stand at £60,000 and once those debts are cleared, a further £5,000 a month will be needed to keep the charity running.

“Damilola lost his life because of enormous problems in this society,” said Taylor. “Unfortunately these problems have not been resolved and too many other lives have been lost and families tortured by losing young children.”

The charity currently expects to continue to run until the end of the year.