Shelter left ruined after fire attack
A COMMUNITY garden building has been broken into and destroyed in a fire.
The Riverside Community Garden Project is a volunteer led project that operates in Pontcanna. It’s supported by registered charity Grow Cardiff and has allotments, bee hives and an education shelter.
Isla Horton, who works for Grow Cardiff, said: “A fire was started at the volunteers’ community shelter, which was built by the volunteers, and is used for doing workshops with children from schools. It took them a long time to build.
“They started a fire and we don’t really know why because they didn’t really take much.”
Ms Horton said the charity hasn’t had anything like this happen in around 12 years so it came as a bit of a shock.
The garden can still be used but the volunteers need help getting it back up to scratch. They want to be able to keep the site going and continue carrying out workshops with young people.
Ms Horton added: “We can still carry on but we need some help. The shelter is the hub of the garden. It’s where everyone comes together really and we need it socially.
“We’ve had so many messages of support from people wanting to help. It shows how much the garden means to people in the community.”
South Wales Fire and Rescue confirmed a fire was reported to officers just off Western Avenue on Wednesday. One appliance was sent from Ely station and a hose reel was used to put out the fire.
South Wales Police also confirmed the incident was reported to the force at 11.05am on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the force said a door was found off its hinges and a community shed was found completely burned out.
The police investigation is still ongoing and anyone with information about the incident is urged to call 101 quoting occurrence number 1800090070.
Ms Horton said they are covered by insurance but this won’t be enough to cover things like security cameras.
She added: “If there are any carpenters or builders out there who can help us, we’d love to hear from them.
“We also need donations of folding or stackable chairs, an outdoor table and a gazebo or marquee to act as a temporary shelter while we start the long task of rebuilding.”
Contact Isla Horton at isla@ growcardiff.org or on 07403 583705.