MARIANNE Boyce is looking forward to the new year knowing the charity which gave her the will to live will be sticking around to help others.

Restore, in East Oxford, faced uncertainty earlier this year when its contract to provide therapeutic services to people with mental health problems across the county was due for renewal.

But fears it could have closed have been overcome thanks to a new £2.2m deal.

The charity helps people with mental health conditions such as depression and personality disorders get back to work by giving them voluntary opportunities in allotments and community cafes.

Charity bosses were concerned that without funding from NHS Oxfordshire and Oxfordshire County Council, services such as the Elder Stubbs allotment project and the Beehive cafe, in Manzil Way, Oxford, would face the chop.

But Restore, along with other charities Root and Branch, based in Watchfield, and Bridewell Organic Gardens, near Witney, have been awarded a £740,000-a-year contract to continue serving the county for the next three years.

Ms Boyce, 39, of Barton, was first put in touch with Restore five years ago.

She said her life had reached rock-bottom after losing her job as a care worker for people with special needs and becoming homeless.

All that changed when she was referred to Restore by Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Mental Health Trust.

She said: “My life has changed so much. It has given me a sense of life and a will to live again.

“Restore means so much to the people who come here. It’s an environment in which we can share and grow.

“I need a reason to get up in the morning, something to do, and that is what Restore has given me.”

Chief executive Benedict Leigh said the contract would allow the organisation to increase the number of people it helped a year from 800 to 1,000. He added: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to continue providing essential services to people with mental health problems.

“Restore really is a lifeline for people.

“It shows the high standard of our services, which is down to the hard work of our services users, volunteers and staff.”