Staff at Glasgow community centre forced to lock doors due to 'behaviour of youths'

Cruel vandals have caused thousands of pounds' worth of damage to the much-loved Bridgeton Community Learning Campus in the city’s East End.

Manager Lesley Ward has hit out following the constant vandalism to the charity’s building and elsewhere in the community.

The 54-year-old revealed that over the last four years, groups of youngsters have been setting fires, graffitiing, destroying a memorial area, and breaking CCTV cameras, windows and doors within the centre’s grounds.

She said: “The community centre itself has been vandalised quite badly to tens of thousands of pounds' worth of repairs.

“Staff and volunteers are putting up with cheek as some of the kids have been coming into the building and refusing to move and then eventually deciding to go round the side and start a fire.

“They’re putting my staff in danger to the point I’m having to tell them to lock the door when they’re in at night.

“We’re a community centre, we shouldn’t have to be locking our doors.”

It’s believed that some of the youngsters causing trouble are as young as 11-years-old.

Lesley, who has been the manager at the centre for more than a decade, has previously tried to put an end to the problems.

She said: “We worked with various agencies to help us work with some of the young people, but they just weren’t interested. It makes you angry.

“I’m here to work for local people and my time is taken up by all this stuff when it could be better used.

“It also makes me really sad because this is a fantastic place and to see it getting destroyed like that, it’s soul-destroying, it’s absolutely soul-destroying.

“It just brings you down. It’s pretty difficult to see the damage on a weekly basis.”

Following the latest incident at the centre which involved damage to the exterior wall, a 7ft fence was erected to stop the young people from getting into the grounds, and to allow repairs to be made.

Lesley said: “There’s a big greenspace project going on at the rear of our centre. Luddon, who is doing the work, asked what we needed as part of the community benefits, and we asked for the fence.

“So that’s not particularly coming out of our pocket monetary-wise, but that money could have been used for better things.

“We are still having to pay for the re-rendering of the wall and for someone to come out and paint it, which will be thousands.”

Last Wednesday night, a fire was set in a nearby play park which had recently been upgraded. Fire crews attended at around 9.30pm and extinguished the blaze.

READ MORE: 'Hell-bent on destroying the neighbourhood': Vandals set fire in Glasgow play park

Lesley, as well as other community representatives, had come to the end of their tether following the incident.

“They got a wheelie bin and they put petrol or something in it because the flames were quite bad,” Lesley said.

“It ended up all melting to the play equipment. They’re criminally damaging things to a high degree.

“Two weeks ago, they were lighting fires at the back of the centre as well.

“The number of positive things that come out of the centre, but you’ve just got this group of young people who are hell-bent and intent on ruining it for people.

“Local people are not standing for it anymore. We’re just so fed up with it.”

Glasgow Labour leader and local councillor George Redmond arranged and chaired a meeting with Lesley, representatives from Thenue Housing, Wheatley Homes Glasgow, Police Scotland, and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

“There was absolute outrage from all the various partners during the meeting,” councillor Redmond said.

“There’s nothing minor. If someone’s graffitiing or smashing a window, they are not minor offences. These are offences against the community.

“There is an investigation which has already begun. The police will be chapping doors to speak to those identified and we will use the powers of the housing associations.

“There will be consequences. We’ve put an action plan in place, and we will carry that out because we’re not accepting any form of vandalism.”

Lesley explained that the police revealed the violence reduction unit will be making an appearance in the area.

She added: “We have already been given a name and address for one of the young people involved in the fire on Wednesday.

“The good thing is we have all sat around the table. We’ve all decided enough is enough and we all want to work together.”

It is believed that another meeting will be held in the coming weeks. 

A spokesperson for Thenue Housing said: “We commend the willingness of various partners to get together to find a solution to incidents of vandalism.

"We deplore vandalism of any kind and we have robust procedures in place to deal with anti-social behaviour.

“Destruction of property of any kind is to be condemned and we always encourage evidence of such behaviour to be given in the first instance to the police."

A Wheatley Homes Glasgow spokesperson added: “We want all of our tenants to live in quiet and peaceful communities. We take any reports of anti-social behaviour and crime very seriously and will take appropriate action.

“Our Community Improvement Partnership, which is made up of housing staff and officers seconded from the police and fire services, works in our neighbourhoods to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and help people stay safe in their homes.

“We would urge any resident with information about deliberate fire-raising and crime in the area to report it immediately to housing staff and police.”

Anyone with information on those involved is asked to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.