Is this the biggest Christmas bargain in Bermuda this year? With inflation high and a dollar worth less every year, it is increasingly hard to get a bang for your buck.

But this year there are deals galore at the Bermuda Society for the Blind which is having a pre-Christmas sale in a bid to boost business and has slashed prices to lure shoppers into its workshop.

Wicker baskets come in at $5 and stools and baby chairs are selling for as little as $10.

"We are really our own worst enemy," said Jean Gallacher, one of the organisers at the centre.

"Our stuff is so well made and lasts so long that it hardly ever needs to be replaced."

So far, thanks to a series of advertisements in the Press, sales are up on last year, but are still not at levels the society, which is housed at Beacon House, would like to see.

Lionel McIntosh, 66, said it took him about a day to make a child's chair ? which now only costs between $10 and $20 to buy.

The society has about 12 weavers who come every day to work on their crafts. Mr. McIntosh said he started going to the society in 1969, and has been busy weaving all kinds of items since then. In fact he has no idea how many chairs and baskets he may have made in that time.

The society was set up in 1951 as a means of providing work for the blind. It was set up by Lady Hall, who had worked with the blind during the First World War.

The society was first housed in the Department of Health, and then found a room on Burnaby Street with donations and help from volunteers.

The Society for the Blind soon needed more room, and moved to the Hamilton Hotel, but when it burned down in 1955, all the work and records of the society were burned with it.

The group moved back to Burnaby Street, but as the society grew, more room was needed. After fundraising enough money was found to buy Beacon House, on the corner of Dundonald Street and Cedar Avenue in 1962.