They offer a future to people who are trying to turn their lives around in Bristol – but very soon they may have no future themselves.

St Vincent's Housing in Hotwell Road has been receiving Supporting People grants, but from Monday, it will no longer receive the Government funding through Bristol City Council.

The organisation had to reapply for funding but was unsuccessful and is now appealing for help from people in the city to raise at least £90,000 to keep the service running.

St Vincent's Housing provides a home for about 75 recovering addicts a year, who are often straight out of prison. The organisation has already helped about 700 people.

It was honoured by Kings College London's Centre for Crime and Justice Studies this year for the work it does; but has already has to make one member of staff redundant because the organisation can no longer afford to pay them. They have also had to reduce the housing they offer residents when they leave the hostel.

People at St Vincent's are given somewhere to live in a zero-tolerance environment, counselling and encouraged to learn something new, while also signing up to an addiction programme.

They are responsible for their own cooking and cleaning and the focus is on people carving out a new life for themselves rather than returning to the environment and experiences they associate with drugs and alcohol.

Most people stay at St Vincent's for a month or two, with the first 28 days governed by a tight regime. Residents then progress to a move-on home, where they start to live more independently.

Earlier this year, Safer Bristol changed its strategy for commissioning drug treatment services and when St Vincent's put in a bid for funding, they were turned down because they did not meet the requirements that had been drawn up.

The city council, which allocates money to drug projects, decided to reduce the number of "dry houses" they funded, opting for more "floating" cover, where support workers help people where they live.

Bristol City Council spokesman Pete Wood said: "In May, Bristol City Council Cabinet approved a new strategy for the commissioning of Supporting People-funded drug and alcohol services in the city, which set out service specifications.

"The aim of the review, which was informed by the views of treatment users, was to ensure these services linked more closely with drug treatment and provision and were both high-quality and value-for-money."

It costs £300,000 a year to run St Vincent's, but project manager Jackie Hearn believes this is money that would otherwise be spent on providing a place in prison for people who would return if they were not helped.

She said: "Funding us makes so much sense. We are run on a shoe-string, but we do work, we really do help people.

"A lot of people have come through these doors, and the majority make it to some kind of stability.

"Without money there is a knock-on effect, money is not being used from taxes to support a person in prison and it will help reduce crime, because addicts are not stealing to pay for their drugs.

"I also think it will help future generations because I think people hand down dysfunctional relationships."

Jackie, 61, a former prison worker, helped set up St Vincent's in 1998.

She had seen the same faces returning to prison, particularly one young man, who inspired her to set up the service so that rather than facing further convictions, people took a new path.

"The people who come here want to make big changes and they need support to do that," she said.

"You do not just come out of prison and stop and everything is wonderful. Putting the drugs down is easy, it is living without them that is hard. You can't do it by yourself and need support, but it has to be from people who understand.

"Mums, aunts and partners might love you to bits and want to support you, but very often do more harm than good because they don't really understand addiction, whereas we do and are in a position to support people to make changes.

"That's all we do, it is up to the individual to make the changes. They have to rehabilitate themselves.

"We are helping people to be independent, it is definitely not a bed for life. We are helping people to make the steps they need to."

A fundraising campaign has now been launched by St Vincent's to raise the extra money needed to run the service.

The team are hoping people in the Bristol area will help support them through donations, and are hoping to encourage regular donations.