Charities and community groups have launched a campaign calling for an increase in funding levels.

The Double It campaign will protest against the level of grant aid allocated to the voluntary sector by Brighton and Hove City Council.

Thousands of postcards have been distributed across the city on which residents are being asked to add a message of support before sending them to council leader Ken Bodfish.

The campaign has been sparked by controversial cuts in funding for a number of voluntary groups following recent grant allocations.

Campaigners hope the mass mailing of postcards will lead to an increase in the grants budget.

The postcards claim the council has one of the lowest grants budgets in England and urges the authority to "double it".

At a public meeting organised by voluntary groups on Thursday night, Shula Rich, of the Brighton and Hove Leaseholders Association, said the council spent a tiny proportion of its budget on supporting the voluntary sector compared to other councils.

She said: "The reason we have not got enough money is because the council spends it all on things like glossy brochures advertising the city.

"Portsmouth spends a 40th of its budget on grants whereas Brighton and Hove spends a 140th of its budget."

This was refuted by Sarah Tanburn, director of culture and regeneration, who insisted it was difficult to compare the level of funding between different areas as organisations in Brighton and Hove received more funding from other sources.

She said: "The main grants programme is by no means the only funding that goes into the voluntary sector.

"There are other contracts we have with the voluntary sector and we have been successful in securing regeneration funding from outside."

The council grants were delayed this year when the process was reassessed.

When they were issued in September, some groups, which had traditionally received money, discovered they had missed out, with only 60 out of 131 groups receiving grants.