THE organisers of Safe Drive, Stay Alive are "leaving no stone unturned" in their efforts to find funding for the under-threat programme.

Last week the Advertiser launched a campaign to #KeepSafeDrive with the group facing a funding crisis for 2018.

Central Safe Drive organise a full week of free awareness shows for every fourth year pupil in Clackmannanshire, Stirling and Falkirk.

Next month the volunteers will deliver their 100th show, on what will be the 10th anniversary of the show itself.

But with resources tight at local government level, Safe Drive Stay Alive organisers are struggling to raised the £23,000 needed to put the show on every year.

And if alternative sources cannot be secured soon, next month's shows will be the last.

Organiser Alan Faulds, watch manager at Alloa Fire Station, said: "There's only about a week to go before the 2017 shows begin and we've only now, more or less, secured all the funding we need.

"That's taken us a whole 12 months of fundraising, making calls, and sending off applications, just to get here.

"And really, I am still waiting on the last grant to come in, so I've had to underwrite the remaining balance myself.

"It's getting harder and harder to get the money together, and without a doubt this year has been the tightest yet.

"It takes the whole the team the whole year to do it and I'm already in the process of sending off grant applications for 2018.

"We've also been out trying to speak to communities about the struggle we are facing. We were at Alva Parish Church at the weekend and a lot of people were very supportive of us and surprised to hear what was happening."

Alan also paid tribute to his fellow volunteers at Safe Drive, Stay Alive and their commitment to reaching out to those young people in Clacks.

He said: "The people that help out with this show, they do it because they believe in it and because they know that it works.

"They all have to take annual leave just to participate in the show, and for the tenth year in a row it will be the same people taking to the stage.

"We do two shows on the Thursday, one in the day and one in the evening. And between them, we are normally able to provide a dinner for the Safe Drive team, but because finances are so tight we can't even do that.

"These people give up their spare time to help out and we can't even buy them a wee dinner.

"But then they've all agreed to but their own on the Thursday. That's just fantastic dedication and they continue to drive forward the show each year."