Tots have been left gutted after vandals trashed their playgroup equipment less than six months after it was installed.
Yobs targeted the Fun Hut- Strathblane Outdoor Playgroup sometime over the weekend.
The playgroup is entirely funded and run through the efforts of volunteers and they were shocked to discover the damaged equipment on Monday morning.
Volunteers arrived to discover several hundred pounds worth of damage, including a smashed water table, a bent cover frames, a storage unit with the doors ripped off and a number of toys broken.
The playgroup is a space for small children, pre-school children, toddlers and babies aged 0-five years.
It runs every Monday and Friday from 9.30am until 11am from The Kirk Rooms Garden, Strathblane.
Despite the damage, the playgroup remained open on Monday.
Amy Ricketts, chair of the Fun Hut – Strathblane Outdoor Playgroup, said: “We were so disappointed to arrive on Monday morning to find the play area trashed. It was built from scratch last autumn entirely by volunteers and has been used twice weekly since October by pre-schoolers and their families.
“We have put a lot of hard work into making the space into a safe and stimulating place for little ones, and to see their faces when we arrived and saw the destruction was heartbreaking.
“It was just senseless damage, and the place smelled like it had been urinated in.
“We cleaned everything up, repaired what we could and threw away the broken toys. This will not stop us, but we now need to fundraise to get some security cameras installed.”
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The group are due to meet with police today (Friday) to discuss the matter. Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting the incident number 1090 of March 30.
Now, the group have launched a fundraiser to try and replace the damaged items as well as install a CCTV system to ward of future attacks.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to try and raise £500 towards the costs.
On the page, the group says: ‘The Fun Hut is an outdoor playgroup that has been going in Strathblane in various iterations for decades. After Covid-19 meant we couldn’t run for a long time we put considerable volunteer effort into creating an inviting outdoor play space so we could go back to providing a place for parents and toddlers. Last weekend, we were vandalised. Toys were broken, shelters were damaged and storage was destroyed.
‘We’re heartbroken and would like to replace what was vandalised, as well as install some CCTV to prevent this happening again. We’re grateful for any help you can give with this!’
To donate click here.
