Falmouth's innovative and life changing Beacon Community Regeneration Partnership has been thrown a potential lifeline only a month before the last of its funding runs out.

In a last-ditch attempt to win support, the partnership's chairman and project coordinator, June and Grenville Chappel, invited the town's MP Sarah Newton, representatives from the town and county councils, and Hazel Stuteley, a former health visitor and director of C2 Learning Programme, to a meeting last week.

Also in attendance were representatives from the police, Cornwall Housing tenants' forum and Jenny Richards, who runs the benefits' advice service from the Beacon Centre.

The meeting was called following the publication of a document, Lighting the Way for C2 Connecting Communities, which reports the social impact valuation of the Beacon Project in its early days between 1995 and 2001.

It states: "The Beacon Project provides a powerful example for any self-driven community that is no longer willing to accept a perpetual state of deprivation. It serves to demonstrate how joint initiative and action can significantly change wellbeing an economic circumstances on the ground.

"Valuing the outcomes... this community created an overall social and economic net benefit of about £3.9million. This is well above the outcomes achieved by many formally funded projects."

Although the project was started on just £35.50, it attracted substantial funding in the early days, but that has now all dried up. Last year an urgent call for help was issued and that resulted in a £10,000 donation coming from a man who lives on the estate, but wishes to remain anonymous.

Mr Chappel said at the meeting: "We are at a crossroads. Twenty years down the line and there is no funding coming in at the moment. We went from three staff to one and I am down to half a day - next month I'm sacked. Although not being paid, I will still come here. Ten thousand pound a year will keep the office open with voluntary staff and we are willing to run it voluntarily."

Hazel, who has been involved since the beginning, said: "What happened here was extraordinary - the coming together of the people who lived here and the people who worked here. We only had £35.50 start up, but did have a great big vision of what the estate could look like. We listened to the community who told us what they wanted. I knew the residents were the only people who should lead this - it needed to come from them.

"I have never lost my passion for this - 20 years on and I still feel as deeply about it but I don't think the partnership is valued in the way it should be valued in Cornwall."

Mrs Newton, town and county councillors and Paul Masters, strategic director at Cornwall Council, were all quick to pledge their support. "I am concerned that we are going to lose this," said Mrs Newton. "I am happy to join a working group to look at how we can sustain this and keep it going.

"I can see there are lots of potential opportunities for funding. We need to figure out how best to do that. I do not think it should be too difficult."

Mr Masters said he would be the "go to" contact for Cornwall Council. "If this is a model that works, why are we not doing more of it?" he said. "It is not high enough on the agenda, probably because no-one is championing it."

It was agreed that the working group would meet next week to start the process of securing the project's long term future. Mr Chappel said: "It is great to have Parliament, county and the town (councils) together. We need help. We have managed it for 20 years without help, but now we need it."