A threatened organisation which offers free legal support to some of the borough's most vulnerable residents has launched a campaign to secure its future.

Hammersmith and Fulham Community Law Centre has been running for 31 years, but had its annual £104,000 grant dropped earlier this year after council chiefs decided to switch funding elsewhere.

Further cuts planned by central government to legal aid for not-for-profit groups mean the King Street centre will have to find around £200,000 a year to continue running.

Supporters are now being asked to sign up as friends of the law centre and give voluntary donations, and staff are exploring other ways of funding the 10-person team.

Law centre chairman George Sheerin said: "The days of looking to the government and local government for funding are over, the money is not coming back, so we need to think of new ways of getting support. We've been here for 31 years and we intend to be here for another 30."

Mr Sheerin said the centre hopes to continue working closely with Hammersmith and Fulham Council, with which it deals routinely on cases involving housing, employment, immigration and social welfare.

A competition was held among students at William Morris Sixth Form to design a new logo to promote the centre, with the winner – a design based on Hammersmith Bridge by 18-year-old Estabraq Al-Khirsan – revealed at the centre's annual general meeting, held at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith last night (15).

Local artist Nicola McCartney, who became a patron of the centre after working with the students on the project, said: "The Law Centre is hugely important, because someone needs to help the people who otherwise can't afford the support that they offer."

Actor Oliver Maltman, a fellow patron who came into contact with the centre while researching a part in the new Mike Leigh film, Another Year, said: "Through the undoubtedly difficult times ahead, it will be due to the had work of staff such as those in Hammersmith, that people in dire need will still benefit from a sadly crippled system."

A council spokesman said the authority remains the fourth most generous supporter of voluntary sector groups in London, but the need to make savings means not all groups can be supported.

He said: "We admire the tenacity and resilience of the Community Law Centre. We wish them all the best for the future and will continue to offer them support and future funding opportunities."

For more information on the centre click here .