An organisation that helps ex-offenders to find work faces closure if it does not find new funding.

NewLife is run by the London Action Trust charity and provides employment advice for people who have been through the criminal justice system but cannot find work afterwards.

It also aims to raise awareness of the issue among employers and make them aware of the business case for hiring ex-offenders with the help of its patron, former Starsky and Hutch star David Soul (pictured). But a shortage of cash means the project is under threat of closure. The scheme currently gets funds from the London Development Agency and the European Social Fund, but this money runs out at the end of the year.

Potential donors include the National Lottery, the central government or the merged prison and probation service.

Brook Hayes, project manager, said: “There are a lot of people looking for this type of money.”