Voluntary organisations across Oxfordshire face tougher times finding helpers after cutbacks at the county's key recruitment centre.

The main umbrella organisation for the voluntary and community sector in Oxfordshire has failed in its bid to win an additional £50,000 grant from the county council.

Now Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action (OCVA) has warned the Volunteer Centre, which it runs to find volunteers for hundreds of groups, could be under threat.

News of OCVA's difficulties emerged just as the Government and the Conservatives, led by Witney MP David Cameron, have been talking up the importance of the voluntary sector in local communities.

The group has already released two members of staff in recent weeks and it says it is having to scrap one-to-one services offered at its Volunteer Centre, aimed at helping volunteers find the most suitable organisation to join.

The organisation's problems stem from a fall-off in funding from the European Social Fund, which is increasingly targeted at new member states in Eastern Europe. At the same time, funding from Volunteering England, which allowed the OCVA to expand its Volunteer bureau in Floyd's Row, Oxford, has now ended.

Chief executive Alison Baxter said: "We are balanced in a precarious position to keep our services ticking over.

"What we have seen is a real drive from central Government to use the voluntary sector. But at the same time, it is hard for local councils to find the money to pay for them to operate."

Charles Waddicor, the county council's director of social and community services, said: "The council was unable to respond to a request by the OCVA for a significant increase in funding, or indeed to similar requests for money from a number of voluntary organisations, because of the council's need to keep costs down and any increase in council tax to a minimum. We understand that OCVA has been seeking more funding from a variety of sources."

The OCVA employs four full-time and two part-time staff. The organisation was founded in 1933 at the height of the Great Depression and one of its first projects was to set up a club for the unemployed.

In recent times, it has focused its energies on assisting more than 250 voluntary and community groups with expert advice on management, training and recruitment.

It also runs a huge furniture store in Marston, which continues to supply second-hand furniture and household items to needy families across the county.