THE Mayor of Carterton has vowed to help save a service that supports military wives.

Lynn Little said she will try to find funding for the Oxford Parent Infant Project (OXPIP), which mainly helps new mothers with husbands serving at RAF Brize Norton.

The group announced yesterday it could close its one-to-one service if it does not find at least £5,000 by March.

It has been running since April after it was given a one-off £5,000 grant by military charity SSAFA (Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Airmen’s Families Association) to run for a year.

Mrs Little, who helped secure the initial funding as divisional secretary for SSAFA, said she may allocate funds of up to £4,000 she expected to raise throughout her term as mayor.

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She will also ask West Oxfordshire District Council, on which she represents the Carterton South ward, and Carterton Town Council for funding.

Mrs Little said: “Where you get an absent father, the mother not only has young children to look after but the whole household.

“Generally, people are posted away from their family so therefore they are more on their own, which makes it twice as bad, and they have nowhere to turn to other than places like OXPIP.

“They are the one who has to make the rules, look after the house, pay the bills and make the decisions, which is a very daunting task.

“So I believe there should be funding for this vital service in Carterton and will try to do what I can.”

The project, based in Kidlington, has been running for more than 15 years.

Since 2012 it has had to close services at Dalton Barracks in Abingdon and RAF Benson.

It began the RAF Brize Norton service in April after being given the SSAFA grant, and helps up to 30 mothers from service families each year. It also receives some funding from Oxfordshire County Council.

Adrian Sell, executive director of OXPIP, said: “This is such a specialist service so we want to try preserve it.

“For the people we work with it’s critical.”

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