A Newcastle church faces losing hundreds of pounds to run events for the community as it looks to repair damage to its site following an alleged act of vandalism.
The community notice board at the Church of the Ascension, in Kenton, is described as "vital link to the community", providing information about upcoming events at the church. But on Wednesday morning members of the church found the noticeboard lying in the grounds of the church after its posts were snapped in half.
Parishioner Billy Ingram, from Kenton, said: "The notice board was used on a regular basis. Because it's right outside of a bus stop people would read it and take notice of it. It's going to cost quite a bit now to get it repaired.
"I feel gutted because when something like that happens you don't just think about what's happened, you think about the impact it's going to have on the community, because people are no longer able to use it now."
Billy, who looks after the garden and also runs an outreach at the church, said that the notice board has been used in the community for years and it will take hundreds of pounds to replace it, especially due to needing a more sturdy board to prevent vandalism happening again.
But he added that the money will have to come out of funds for the church, which would otherwise be used for holding events for the community.
The 61-year-old, who has been part of the Kenton church since 2019, said: "A week on Saturday we're having an event whereby we're inviting the local community round for a burger night and [the damage] is going to have an impact now. All these events that the church put on are going to be impacted now."
Billy now wants the culprits to come forward, not so they can be punished for their actions, but so the church can try to help those responsible.
He added: "It would be great if the person who actually did it came forward and just owned up to it. No consequences. Obviously we're a church and we understand that things happen, we just want to help people who feel that they want to vandalise something. Come forward and talk to us, we'll help."
Members of the church have not reported the incident to police.
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