Northampton charity-run nursery ‘heartbroken’ after vandals repeatedly target new baby garden area

A charity-run nursery in Great Houghton has shared their heartbreak after revealing that their nursery has been targeted by vandals four times.

The team at Daisy Chain Nursery dreamed of creating a baby garden area for a long time. It finally became a reality when 15 Network Rail employees dedicated their volunteering hours to build one for them earlier this year.

Staff did not even get a chance to use the new area before local vandals “maliciously destroyed it”, they told the Chronicle & Echo.

A spokesperson for the nursery posted to Facebook: “We are utterly heartbroken for our little ones and the fantastic team who made a dream a reality.

“As a charity-run nursery, the added cost of repairing the damage, replacing the resources and our staff consistently tidying away our damaged property is becoming a strain.”

Over the last six weeks, vandals destroyed bird boxes and fencing, broke a table, kicked down the fire exit door and threw children’s bikes on the nursery’s roof.

One of the nursery’s newest toys was a train sandpit, which they were able to buy after fundraising at their Summer Fete.

Manager at Daisy Chain, Sheila Sidey, told this newspaper there was “nothing left of it” after it had been smashed to pieces.

She said: “It has been frightening for the staff not knowing what to expect when they come in each day, not knowing if anything else has been damaged or if we have been broken into.”

Since the vandalism started on May 25, the nursery fitted CCTV cameras and signage in a bid to deter the culprits. Two boys - around the age of 14 - were filmed waving at the camera whilst trespassing on the premises.

Daisy Chain Nursery initially posted screenshots of the footage onto Facebook but parents who recognised one of the boys asked for them to be taken down. No one has taken responsibility for the criminal damage.

Sheila said: “We are angry that anyone would do anything to destroy things that are clearly for children.

“It is upsetting to all the staff. People think it is easy. It is a hard job so, when staff put work into making it a nice environment only to have it destroyed, it has left people feeling a bit deflated.”

Kind residents coming forward with donations and offers of help have helped to restore nursery staff’s faith in the community.

So far, a sandbox has been donated and two local tradesmen have offered to repair the fire exit door and fence posts free of charge. A parent has also set up a GoFundMe page to help the nursery make repairs.

The Daisy Chain Nursery group has been running for 25 years. It offers flexible childcare to meet the needs of local parents, who work around the clock. As there is so little funding available, it does predominantly rely on fundraising efforts to cover costs.

Anyone with information about the criminal damage at Daisy Chain Nursery is asked to contact Northamptonshire Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting incident number: 23000408933.

To donate to the nursery’s GoFundMe, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/Nursery-repair-fund.