Vandals destroy Cottage Centre’s fairy garden

kirkcaldy: Devastation after newlycreated feature smashed up at family support centre

Vandals have again trashed a community garden used by families in crisis in Kirkcaldy.

Staff at the Cottage Family Centre were devastated to discover its newlycreated fairy garden destroyed when they arrived for work on Thursday.

CCTV footage showed two young males climb over a fence to enter the garden in Cawdor Crescent at 7pm on Wednesday before making their way through the garden, damaging everything in sight.

The fairy garden, complete with a tiny archway, little glass and stone footpaths and small houses with little wooden doors, was made by a group of parents who use the centre and unveiled to amazed children on May 4.

The vandals have smashed the doors, destroyed the footpaths and hauled branches off trees and dumped them in the middle of the fairy garden.

The centre offers support to vulnerable children and families in Kirkcaldy and received the support of TV presenter Sandi Toksvig on a recent visit to the town.

She has pledged to return and perform a fundraising show in aid of the charity, of which former Prime Minister Gordon Brown is patron.

Cottage receptionist Lisa Hitchcock said: “It’s devastating enough if our hard work has been ruined but knowing mums and children have put a lot of love and ideas into this has made it worse.

“We can’t believe children in our own community would do this to us.”

Lisa said the damage had been hidden from the youngsters who enjoyed the garden and the hope was to fix it before they were allowed back in.

“It’s a magical thing and the wee ones love it,” she said.

“This vandalism has come from nowhere but we won’t let it stop us.

“We’ll get it fixed and put in more things to do with fairies, like fairy lights.”

Last year, the centre’s community garden was trashed by vandals who had been using it as a drinking den at weekends.

It had been created during eight years of hard work by a group of fathers but the cost of the destruction was put at £2,000.

Police said they were aware of the incident and were investigating.

The garden, complete with a tiny archway, little glass and stone footpaths and small houses was trashed on Wednesday.