A KENDAL charity that has been fundraising for a new building is within touching distance of its £440,000 target.

Sight Advice South Lakes launched the building appeal in 2013, as its Stricklandgate location was unsuitable for service users.

The charity, which supports those living with sight loss, has since raised around £385,000 from individuals and grant giving foundations, enabling it to purchase 116 Highgate.

"We're stepping up our fundraising, with our applications to local trusts and foundations and we will hopefully be doing some more local fundraising," director of the charity, Claire Park said. "We purchased that property in March and we've currently got refurbishment and renovation work going on in the property, which is spearing us on to raise that little bit extra and get all the building work done."

As part of the renewed focus on raising money for the property, the charity held a coffee morning in Kendal's Slate Bar and Cafe on Friday, as well as a charity bingo evening at Kendal Rugby Club. The two events raised a total of £580.

Claire hopes that if all goes well in the next few months, the charity will be able to move into the new property in September.

She said that the current property does not have good enough access for those with significant sight loss and although it is a beautiful building, the fact that it is listed means that there are restrictions regarding how they are allowed to alter it.

"We'd outgrown the space," she said. "We have only got one room that can be used for our service users and once it's being used, anyone coming in for some low level advice, we can't use the room.

"We needed to move. We wanted to reduce our overheads by owning our own property."

She hopes that the new building, with its high street location, will mean that the charity is able to help more people.

According to the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) sight loss data tool, in 2015 there was an estimated 4,700 people living with sight loss in South Lakeland.

"We're working with 889 members," Claire said. "Which is a 27 per cent increase on last year but we have a long way to go in reaching those people."