A CENTRE which provides courses for vulnerable people is being closed by a college to save £50,000.

The Trayners Abbey Wood & Thamesmead Technology Centre opened in 2001 and currently has 190 students.

Some of the students have mental health issues and disabilities.

Students say the college in Grovebury Road, Abbey Wood, should stay open because it is an essential part of the community.

They have now teamed up with former students and friends and family to form a group to fight the closure.

Mum-of-two Julia Costin, 46, of Edington Road, Abbey Wood, suffers from depression and anxiety.

She says the group will fight tooth and nail to keep the college open.

They have already handed in a petition against the closure and plan to picket the centre on June 19.

Ms Costin said: "I have been going to the college for five years and have been to every class there.

"We are all worried and constantly on edge, but we are going to keep fighting because it the last lifeline for many of us."

She added: "When things got tough for me, I always knew I had the centre. It's a real part of the community.

"We have a lot of vulnerable people. For many of them, this is all they have."

The centre offers up to 28 two-hour courses each week in subjects such as IT and electronics.

Greenwich Community College plans to close the college in September.

It says it has been forced to do so because £800,000 of funding provided by the Government's Learning and Skills Council has been cut due to a change in funding priorities.

College principal Geoff Pine said: "We are committed to the training needs of residents of Abbey Wood.

"But we can no longer afford to deliver courses which we receive very little funding for from a centre which on average costs just under £50,000 a year to run."

The college says some of the courses offered at Trayners will be moved to its Plumstead Centre, while others will be cancelled altogether.

Anyone interested in joining the fight to stop the closure can call Ms Costin on 07971 365627.