A break-in by vandals at the SWALLOW Community Café, in Radstock, saw the facility having to close temporarily last week.

Local volunteers were shocked to arrive at the café on Friday morning to find smashed crockery, equipment and other items thrown around, and the contents of the freezer emptied onto the floor.

The electricity had also been turned off, causing hundreds of pounds worth of food to be ruined, which had been made by SWALLOW members.

The café had to close on Friday to allow police to take fingerprints and for volunteers to clear up and assess the damage.

Tara Howells, Café Manager, said: “It was devastating to come in on Friday morning to such a mess and see all the members’ hard work wasted.

“The team worked very hard and managed to clean everything up in time to cater for a christening on Sunday. We are very grateful for all of the messages of support from the local community. We are open as normal this week.”

The Midsomer Norton charity, which supports teenagers and adults with learning disabilities to live as independently as they wish, have thanked the community for its generosity.

spokesperson for SWALLOW said: “The community have been absolutely fantastic. The members were really upset on Friday, and it was difficult for everyone having to wait for the police.

“People have been really kind – we have already received offers of help from local company, Sun Chemical, financial donations from others, and an offer of help with an alarm system.

“Athough it seems nothing was taken, the damage done and the amount of time it took to clear up and take stock, and for all of the food wasted that members had spent time making – it was really sad for everyone.

“We managed to turn it all around though, and have re-opened positively this week.”

SWALLOW lease the café space from St Nicholas’ Church, Radstock, which enables eight SWALLOW members at a time to take part in essential work and life skills. This includes learning food hygiene and cookery, taking orders, engaging with customers, handling money and tidying up at the end of the day.

The café has been running for three years and gives SWALLOW members the opportunity to take part in the work skills venture, which will hopefully lead to paid employment in future.

The café is open from Tuesday to Friday from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

If you think you might be able to help SWALLOW, please email Nicky Tew at: [email protected] or call: 01761 414034. You can also find more information about the charity at: www.swallowcharity.org and Facebook page www.facebook.com/SWALLOWCharity/