TEENAGERS who planned to go on a trip to Australia arranged by a charity which has collapsed met in Newport tonight to see if they could salvage the situation.

More than 60 upset youngesters and their families attended the meeting at Brynglas House, with some coming from as far as Neath, Swansea and Bristol.

Joshua’s Wish, also known as the Joshua Foundation, is being wound up, owing £300,000 to the taxman.

The meeting, which was set up and organised by 17 year old Anna Griffin, from Ringland, saw the teens try to salvage the situation in the wake of the charity's closure, by discussing their options and bookings.

At the meeting there were groans from children and parents when it was discovered visas, coach transfers, hotels, tours and expeditions had not been paid for.

Ashleigh Whiting, 18, a Nash College student from Caerleon, told the Argus she had raised around £4,000 for the trip.

She said: "We are all here at the meeting becuase no one knows what is going on really. No one can get in contact with them. Mainly, we just want to know what happened to all the money we fundraised for.

"I found out about it when I looked at our Facebook group and someone had posted to look at Twitter, and it was on there.The day after we got the letter, they didn't thank us for all the work we had done or the money we raised. It said nothing really.

"It's just sad because we have raised all this money for the charity and know we don't know where it's all gone."

But the founder of the charity has blamed a TV investigation for its demise.

Sarah Cornelius-Price, founder of Joshua's Wish, said she would have liked to have seen more compassion from those who have complained shown for terminally ill children that will now lose out as a result Mrs Cornelius-Price said funds were not coming in since the BBC programme into Joshua's Wish was broadcast in January.

"We have spoken to people over the last couple of weeks that thought we didn't exist anymore. They thought the story meant that the charity had closed," she said.

She said the debt the charity owed to the taxman over Gift Aid came because of unclear rules on how it pertained to overseas expeditions, and said it had been in their accounts since 2004.

The founder of the charity, which arranged trips for children with terminal cancer, said it would have been irresponsibile to send teenagers out on the Oz Experience when Joshua's Wish no longer existed.

She said money given to the charity had been spent on making arrangements or on the charitable activities.

Mrs Cornelius-Price said not one of the people criticising her charity had mentioned "that children with terminal cancer will no longer get our assistance."

The founder claimed she had been subjected to vile abuse on Twitter.

The Cardiff-based charity was set up in memory of Mrs Cornelius-Price's son Joshua, who died aged seven from cancer.