Members of an Angus charity that delivers aid to refugees throughout Europe have voiced anger over vandalism to their premises.
A window was smashed at the building used by Angus Solidarity For Refugees in Strathairlie Avenue in Arbroath.
This is the third time a window has been broken since the group took over the premises last September.
Treasurer Kelly Bennett said the charity was reluctant to use its hard earned funds to pay for replacement windows, but is also concerned that if the building looks neglected it could lead to more damage.
She said: “The building sat empty for quite some time before we took it over and some windows were smashed up at that time.
“This is the third window we’ve had broken since September. There are now six windows boarded up.
“We are a community group and we’ve raised all our funds ourselves and replacing windows is expensive.
“However, if we leave them boarded much longer it might keep happening because if it looks like we don’t care about the building, then nobody will care about the building.”
The latest incident of vandalism occurred between Friday night and Sunday morning.
Kelly said she suspects that “bored” children may be responsible for the damage.
She added: “It’s a lack of respect for the community’s assets. We have spoken to some local kids but we don’t want to be going to the police with children’s names.
“This is about the community looking after each other and looking after its assets.
“The building and its grounds are regularly used as a playground by local children and while we’d never wish to stop them having fun, we would ask that parents in the area speak with their children about playing in our garden.
“If we could also ask the local community to keep an eye out for our building. Being volunteer run, we can’t man it 24 hours a day.”
Angus Solidarity For Refugees was formed by members of Angus Common Weal to organise donations to help refugees in the wake of three-year-old boy Alan Kurdi drowning in the Mediterranean Sea.
Since then it has organised donations to go to Calais and Greece and sent a van load of donations to Croatia.
“We’ve also organised starter parks for refugee families who came to Angus at the beginning of December,” added Kelly.
“We’ve organised social support for these families and the hope is that eventually the building will be used as a practical space as a community hub for things like English lessons and a social gathering space.
“But we can’t really do that when the building looks like it’s part of a war zone.”
Anyone who would be interested in volunteering for Angus Solidarity For Refugees is asked to email angussolidarityforrefugees@gmail.com.
