A ''huge weight'' has lifted from Carers' Society Otago in the form of a six-month funding reprieve, but its long-term future is uncertain.
Manager Susan Easterbrook, of Dunedin, said the Ministry of Health had now offered to fund the service until the end of September.
The service was to have been replaced with new national services, but the tender process for that had been delayed for several months with no proper explanation, Ms Easterbrook said.
''That's a huge weight off our minds, in the interim.''
Long-term, however, the society needed a replacement funding source for its annual $42,000 contract with the ministry.
The organisation, which has two part-time staff, raises about $60,000 a year itself. It had cut back slightly on its services because of the uncertainty.
Based in Dunedin, it provides support to unpaid carers throughout Otago.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health said it had extended the society's contract to ensure no gap in service.
