A family support charity said it can no longer meet the demand of the families who contact it, following news that its support services face funding cuts of more than £500,000.

A statement on the Family Lives website said the Department for Education had offered just £475,000 of the £990,000 previously provided to run helpline and online support services. As a result, it will reduce helpline services and temporarily close its emai; service.

“These cuts will have a terrible impact on the many thousands of families who turn to us for support often when they have nowhere else to go, and in a time when our services have seen an increase in demand over the last year, the need to continue providing our services at the current level is even more pressing,” the charity said.

“Due to significantly reduced funding we are withdrawing our email service from 31 March 2015,” it said. “To enable us to respond to all emails by the end of the month the last date to submit an email will be Tuesday 24 March.”

The charity has appealed for people to write to their local MPs to “raise awareness of the cuts, and the impact this will have on the family support". 

“We appreciate whatever you can do to help, whether that is contributing financially or writing to your local MP or councillor on our behalf,” the charity said.

Family Lives was set up in 1973 and formally registered as a charity in 1999.  It currently employs 85 full-time equivalent staff and 280 volunteers and generated an income of £4.2m for the year ending 31st March 2014.

Family Lives was approached by Civil Society News for comment but did not respond.