Boys’ camp saved after vandal spree

A COMMUNITY has rallied round to save a Dundee Boys’ Brigade camp after vandals struck.

The 30th Dundee Boys’ Brigade has been going to Inverbervie for summer camp for the past 72 years.

This year it looked like the camp would be postponed after the small cottage they use for cooking and storage was broken into and ransacked.

Vandals smashed slates and entered the cottage through the roof before trashing it when they got inside.

Offers of help were received from local tradesmen following an appeal and the June 29 camp is back on.

Captain Allan Fordyce said: “I was in Inverbervie to check things and opened the door of the cottage and saw light shining through the roof.

“Someone had knocked a hole in the roof and ransacked the place. I was not expecting that and it ripped the heart out of me.

“We always look forward to coming to Inverbervie every year. The locals also look forward to our arrival – they always say they know it’s summer when they see our marquee going up.

“But without a means of feeding the troops we had to cancel the camp.”

Mr Fordyce, who has been with the Boys’ Brigade since 1977, said the response from the Inverbervie community had left him overwhelmed.

A 20-foot container is being brought on site to be used for storage and the local church has also offered the company a place to serve food. The cottage will eventually be repaired when pest control specialists are brought in to deal with birds which are now nesting in the building.

“It’s our eight-day camp and the boys have been looking forward to it all year,” said Mr Fordyce.

“Now the camp can go ahead and there will be an added sense of pride when we march through Inverbervie this year.

“Everyone who has chipped in has been absolutely brilliant and we are eternally grateful.”

The appeal was started after Mr Fordyce contacted Lynn McHarg from Inverbervie Burgh Hall.

She said those responsible had given a terrible impression of Bervie to the wider community.

“Bervie is so much more than this mindless vandalism,” she said.

Police Scotland are investigating.

Alan Fordyce say help is “brilliant”.