A CHARITY for the blind is appealing for help in running computer lessons for people with sight problems.

The County Durham Society for the Blind and Partially Sighted, based in Durham City, has launched a mentoring scheme to provide people with vision loss get to grips with the world of information technology, starting with the basics.

The scheme has attracted a lot of interest but the society only has four volunteers working on it and a waiting list has built up.

The society's volunteer co-ordinator in the county, Sandra Hillyard, said: "Many of our clients were finding it difficult to go on computer courses, even those aimed at people with sight loss, as even starter courses assume people have some previous knowledge of computers.

"This course we want to run starts at the basic level, from switching the computer on to writing a letter.

"The scheme has been greeted with a great deal of demand and, as the scheme has currently only four volunteer mentors, this has resulted in a waiting list for the service."

The charity is seeking visually-impaired computer users, who can operate specialist software packages including synthetic speech and magnification.

Anyone who wants to help with the scheme, or would like more information can call 0191-386 8175.