The centre would provide flats for people to stay in during court cases

Fundraisers need �1m to build the centre to help victims of crime.

Details were unveiled at a conference in north east England attended by around 100 people from across the UK who have had relatives murdered.

Among the guests were Sara Payne, whose eight-year-old daughter Sarah was murdered in Sussex in July 2000.

But the conference was also told that the government did aim to establish a Victims' Fund to help finance support groups across the country.

The North of England Victims' Association's sixth annual conference, in South Tyneside, heard that the new facility will offer a range of services for victims and their relatives.

For more than 10 years we have had to beg, steal and borrow Norman Brennan, Victims of Crime Trust

Norman Brennan, from the Victims of Crime Trust, said a major national sponsor would launch the appeal in the next week to 10 days, but would not reveal the name.

He told the conference: "We have to beg to keep the Victims of Crime Trust going.

"We have had meetings with three Home Office ministers and each has promised to look at funding but none of them have.

"We cannot wait any longer.

"For more than 10 years we have had to beg, steal and borrow. We are on our knees but we are not going to go down the drain."

The resource centre would incorporate a research department, reference library, campaigns department and three flats for people to stay while attending court cases or conferences in the capital, he said.

David Hines, of South Tyneside, set up the North of England Victims' Association in 1992 after his 23-year-old daughter was murdered by a former boyfriend.

Frances Flaxington, head of the victims unit at the Home Office, told the conference that the government hoped to fund both national and local organisations in the future.