A MUCH valued community and training centre will close in Gunnislake at the end of the month after a long running struggle to get funding.

Calstock Development Trust has reluctantly agreed to close the Oasis Centre, which has been providing a service to the community for the past six years.

Five failed grant applications in the last two months proved the final straw for the centre, which has been kept afloat by volunteers and local donations over the past two years.

Chairman of Calstock Development Trust, which runs Oasis, Norma Greenslade, said trustees were at the end of their tether and keeping the centre open any longer would have meant running into debt.

'For the past four years at our annual meeting the chairman has reported that funding is getting worse,' she said.

'There are so many people chasing the same pot of gold, including the Tamar Valley AONB. We have no funds to employ a full-time or even a part-time person and have been running with volunteers.'

She said the rent was £300 a month, although the landlord had been very good, offering a period rent-free, and the running costs were £600 a month, which included the broadband connection.

'The situation just got untenable — it is very sad,' she said.

One of the grants applied for was Grass Roots funding from the Cornwall Community Foundation but there were £200,000 worth of applications and a fund of only £30,000, added Mrs Greenslade.

Oasis has acted as a job and skills centre, helping people get back into work and providing computer training, with around 140 people a month using the centre.

There is information on jobs and computer facilities available for children and adults who do not have computers at home.

The organisation, Link Into Learning, has also offered free courses at the centre one day a week.

Many people go to Oasis to trace their family trees.

Mrs Greenslade added that the good news was that Calstock Development Trust would continue and assist with other projects in the parish.

'Hopefully, we can revitalise something, whether it is in Gunnislake or at Delaware Learning Centre — we just don't know yet.' she said.

Members of Calstock Parish Council decided to write a letter to the trustees to thank them for all they had done for the Oasis Centre.