Mental health charity Voluntary Support Scheme (VSS) is to close after 17 years of supporting people in Mid Devon, having failed to secure sufficient funding or to recruit trustees.

A statement on its website announcing the closure says the trustees took the decision to wind-up the charity after cash-flow projections showed it would reach its reserves at the end of December last year and a failure to recruit trustees left it "short of personnel".

VSS's reserves will be used to wind down its activities between now and the end of June 2013 when the charity will cease to operate.

The charity trustees intend to leave a legacy document, capturing the origin, history, work and achievements of VSS which can be used by future community-based services for mental health as a reference point.

VSS paired up volunteers with people with mental health difficulties in the Tiverton community.

The charity's annual report for the year ending March 2012 show it got the bulk of its income from local councils and grantmaking trusts.