We are a Church with a smallish congregation and we support the local community by housing the Swallow Community cafe and its members who become extremely distressed when what is essentially their "safe space" is violated.

We also house the local foodbank which in these times many local families could not survive without. Alongside the financial implications of these incursions, four in total this week, runs the amount of time and effort wasted by our Church wardens who have to deal with the local police each time an incident occurs, and our handyman who has to make good some of the damage in order to secure the building.

Whilst I appreciate that there is little to do locally for the youth, it was the same back in the day when I was young and I cannot remember hearing about anything of the like which happens nowadays.

I would dearly like to know what pleasure/amusement/satisfaction can be gained by removing two picnic benches from our premises, taking them into the Radco carpark, setting fire to one and scrawling initials, graffiti and foul language on the other which has now been painted over with the Ukranian flag!

The second incident also involved fire, setting fire to a cardboard re-cycling bin and throwing a metal 60 litre commercial waste bin into the local river, thus polluting the water with all the rubbish which was in the bin! Such fun?

We are here for the local community and it is a massive kick in the teeth when things like this happen.

Any answers would be much appreciated and in the meantime we are all praying for the perpetrators. C.M.