Redcar community hub to prevent anti-social behaviour vandalised
Cavey's Cabin is still scheduled to open next week though
A new community hub in Redcar aimed at preventing young people from doing anti-social behaviour has been vandalised.
Cavey's Cabin is based at Locke Park with the grand opening on Wednesday 5th June.
It is run by the Chris Cave Foundation, in honour of a local teenager who was stabbed to death in 2003.
His mum, Theresa Cave, said: "Kids have been in and tried to smash the handle off, they've tried to break the steel shutters off the window. It's breaking my heart because we seem to be getting five steps forward and 20 steps back on what we're doing. They don't realise that what we're doing is for them. It's not for adults. It's for kids and we've got no help. We've got no funding.
"There's nothing inside it. They've caused external damage which is going to cost us to get it fixed. We have to have a new lock on the door because of the damage on the handle, we're having to have some steel locks put over the windows because they've actually levied one off with a big stick.
"It's just a nightmare really putting it all back together again and making it look lovely. They've chipped all off the lovely paint off it. It really annoyed me because it's gorgeous how they've decorated it but we've had some people come over who've said they're going to help us. Hopefully they won't come back and do it again."
She has this message to the young people: "We just want to do it for you. We've never in 21 years had this happen to us in other office. We had a big mural painted by the kids and they haven't touched that, so why come into a beautiful park when it's all for them? Once we're open they'll see a difference and they'll be able to see that they can come in, so give it a break, have a bit of patience and just hang on.
"If you are the parents and you do know that your kids are going in the park, have a little word with them please because it's not fair on us. We haven't got the money to fork out. We're not Government funded. We get nothing and we raise everything ourselves and it's really hard work, so let's either get together and solve this problem, or in the end we just move on."