A CHARITY that works with disabled children and their parents must find a new home.

Rutland House School for Parents must leave Mapperley Park by the end of October.

The school operates an early intervention programme for families with young children born with cerebral palsy or Down's syndrome who have problems with mobility, communication and concentration.

At present, the school has rent-free accommodation provided by the Scope charity and use of a hydrotherapy pool from the school, which is unaffected by the changes.

After a promising development opportunity fell through, the School for Parents is asking councils, businesses and individuals if they can suggest a vacant site.

There needs to be about 3,000 square feet of ground floor space, with car parking and preferably with or near a hydrotherapy pool.

If it can't find a permanent home in time, the charity may have to move into a temporary base and launch a fund-raising appeal to buy a new building for the 40 youngsters, aged six months to five years, it supports.

Manager Erika Juhasz said: "We'd love to keep operating from free premises but we're realistic enough to know that we're unlikely to find another free home so we're budgeting accordingly.

"However, we need all the help we can get to locate suitable properties."

The School for Parents costs £200,000 a year, funded entirely by donations.

Earlier this year, Notts cricketing hero Graeme Swann helped to raise more than £2,000 for the school after his signed shirt worn during England's triumphant Ashes series was auctioned on eBay.

The school focuses on teaching parents how to support their children and many have described it as a lifeline after all else has failed.

Caroline Scothern's three- year-old son, Logan, couldn't stand up when he started there but the youngster, who has cerebral palsy, can now walk with sticks.

Caroline, who gave birth to Logan at 28 weeks, said: "We've had a tough few years as a family, made worse by the lack of support we've received from various agencies.

"The School for Parents has a genuine love for our children. Logan is our little miracle.

"We need help to find new premises for this fantastic service to help Logan continue to be the best he can be.

"As a family, we'd be lost without their support and Logan would not have achieved all that he has in the past few months."

Because of the current financial climate, Scope is keen to explore other options for the property in Elm Bank.

A spokesman said: "We have been offering School for Parents rent-free accommodation on the site of Rutland House School ever since it became an independent charity in 2001.

"We've been working closely with the charity to support it to find alternative accommodation and have recently taken a decision to extend the current deadline for possession of the property until October, to give the charity more time to locate suitable premises for its use."

The School for Parents is an independent and autonomous charity, separate from Rutland House School, which is run by Scope for older children with physical impairments such as cerebral palsy, sensory problems and high medical needs.

Anyone who can help is asked to contact Erika Juhasz on 0115 9858178 or e-mail erika.juhasz@schoolfor parents.org.uk.