A CHARITY for blind and visually impaired people is to close its Blaenau Gwent resource centre because of a lack of funds.

Trustees of the Vision Foundation have decided to close their Ebbw Vale centre at the end of next month.

The closure of the centre, which provides free services to people with sight problems, is being blamed on difficulty in attracting funding. The facility has been plagued by vandals in recent years.

A spate of attacks has included air gun pellets being fired at a window, syringes dumped on the property and tin cans planted in the £100,000 sensory garden with their jagged edges left up.

Last summer the charity was forced to buy CCTV cameras - partly funded by a £5,000 grant from the Argus' parent company Gannett - to help combat the vandalism.

The charity's fundraisers said vital funds had been drained to replace damaged equipment.

It offers Braille lessons, IT tuition, sensory rooms and gardens and playgroups.

Partially-sighted Keith Jones, from Garnlydan, benefited from the charity:

"If I hadn't learned through courses at the centre how to use a computer I wouldn't be able to keep in touch with friends over the Internet.

"I wouldn't be able to read and write my own letters."

He said met his fiancee through the internet and said it was thanks to the skills he learned that he now has a happy future ahead of him: "I have benefited immensely from the foundation.

"If the centre closes it will be a terrible blow for blind and partially sighted people throughout Gwent."

Ebbw Vale county councillor John Rogers said: "I think it is very regrettable that the charity is closing.

"Over the years they have done excellent work which many people have benefited from."

No one from the charity was available for comment, but the trustees released a statement: "The Vision Foundation was set up in 1989 to assist visually impaired children and their families.

"In 1998 the organisation opened its resource centre in Ebbw Vale to provide a range of services for visually impaired people of all ages. Due to difficulties in attracting revenue funding, the resource centre will close its doors on 30 September 2005.

"The charity will move to a new address for administration purposes."