THE defunct charity Plymouth Community Partnership is still in limbo more than four months after it folded, The Herald has learned.

Trustees are still awaiting advice on what to do after the charity failed to get the required backing of members to enable it to enter voluntary liquidation, more than two months ago.

However, accountants have given the trustees permission to start paying creditors and some have already received money.

The PCP, an umbrella organisation for Plymouth's community groups, abruptly closed in September, with 11 redundancies.

It had lost the backing of Plymouth's Change Up Consortium, which funds the city's community and voluntary sector.

In November, trustees called an extraordinary general meeting at Devonport's Welcome Hall so the PCP could enter voluntary liquidation and appoint a liquidator.

About 30 of the PCP's 187 members were at the EGM, and the rest had a proxy vote.

Three-quarters had to back the liquidation for it to proceed, but following a lively 90-minute meeting, the motion failed to get the votes needed.

Some of the PCP's community members said they didn't back liquidation because questions about potential claims against the PCP had not been answered to their satisfaction.

After the EGM, PCP's chairwoman Mary Aspinall said the vote had left the board needing to take specialist advice, and described the organisation as being 'in limbo'.

And now, two months on, she said directions were still being sought.

"We are waiting for formal advice on how to proceed," she told The Herald. "It's not resolved as yet."

But she added: "We have had the OK from accountants to pay the expenses. Some of the creditors have been paid."

The PCP, based in Catherine Street, was a company and a charity, and an important part of Plymouth's Change Up Consortium, alongside groups including the Wolseley Trust.

But it fell into financial problems last year when funding from the Single Regeneration Budget, European Social Fund and other sources ran out.

The PCP's income had already fallen from £970,000 in 2006 to £494,000 in 2007.

It was then affected by a shift in government policy which means community groups must become more commercial, receiving fewer handouts from taxpayers.

Public cash is now channelled through 'consortia' which make decisions on who receives it.

Last year, Mrs Aspinall said the PCP was not flexible enough to adapt to the change.

The charity had acted as an umbrella organisation providing services to community bodies. These included training, reprographics, legal advice, funding information, and admin help.