Community food larder at Craigie High School destroyed in fire
Police say the fire is being treated as deliberate
Last updated 24th Jan 2023
A deliberate fire at Craigie High School on the 15th of January has destroyed the schools community food larder.
On the fire a Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We were made aware of a fire at a school on Garnet Terrace in Dundee around 8.30pm on Sunday, 15 January.
“The fire was extinguished by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and no one was injured.
“It is being treated as deliberate and enquiries are ongoing.
“Anyone with information can call 101, quoting reference 3081 of 15 January.”
The larder, situated at the front door of the school, offered pupils and parents the opportunity to take a small number of items without the pressure of asking.
Head teacher, Andrena Waghorn, says some of the pupils have been upset following the loss of the larder. She said: "What was very significant was that a lot of young people over the course of that first morning did come and say that they were quite upset that the food larder had been a casualty because they'd used it themselves and they know the impact of it in the local community. "
Abbie McClusky, a school support worker, added: "It was very upsetting for ourselves, all staff and all of our young people as well who use it and support it by bringing things along and helping to arrange things.
"It was a big impact on us here."
Andrena Waghorn is hoping to have the larder back up and running soon. She said: "We're just waiting on some repairs to the front of the school and then we'll purchase another cabinet so we're hoping to get that up and running."
She added that other services the school provide, such as a clothing and hygiene bank, are not impacted. She said: "What it's not impacting on is parents who contact us requiring something because we have a process for that and that will continue."
Abbie McClusky says the school community have rallied together to fill the void left by the larder. She said: "One of the support workers, her husband actually works within a foodbank so he's donated lots of things. We've just started putting all of that away like our tins of soup. That's been really, really helpful.
"The sixth years have started bringing things in. Other children are mentioning it too. Obviously parents and visitors who come in will notice what's happened."
Following the fire on the 15th of January which destroyed the larder, the school also faced another incident at 3am on the 23rd of January.
Tayside Police say a break-in at the school is linked to a break-in at Braeview Academy, at 2am on Monday 23rd January, where a fire was also started in a classroom.
Inspector Dave Rice said: “Our enquiries into both incidents, which are currently being treated as linked, are ongoing with the fire being treated as wilful.
“Fortunately no one was injured but the consequences of this kind of behaviour could have been much more serious. These kind of reckless acts have an impact on our communities and will not be tolerated.
“I am appealing to anyone who was in the areas around the time of these incidents and who saw anything suspicious to get in touch.
“In addition, if you were driving and have dash-cam that could assist with our enquiries or private CCTV that could help them please make contact with us.”