POLICE are appealing for witnesses after a children’s playhouse was burnt down at a church in the Three Towns. 

The incident took place on Saturday evening when members of the public contacted the police and fire services in relation to a fire at the Church of the Nazarene in Ardrossan’s Glasgow Street. 

Emergency Services attended and discovered a playhouse on fire and following inspection, it was ascertained that it didn’t seem to have been caused by an accident. 

Craig Crosthwaite, co-ordinator of the North Ayrshire Foodbank which is based in the church, told the Herald that this isn’t the first thing to happen in recent times and hopes that people can help them, rather than cause them anguish. 

He explained: “Sadly, as a church, we have periods when we have acts of violence or vandalism visited upon us. This most recent spate of events have included young people using the playhouse as a drugs den (leaving their paraphernalia behind), the polytunnel slashed, vegetables and plants pulled out by their roots and this Saturday evening the children’s playhouse burnt to an ash. As a church, we thank everybody for the blessings they have bestowed upon us by partnering with us through our various works. 

“The Foodbank is amongst the best examples. Forty nine tons of food received and distributed to 4980 people across the local authority area. So many people helped when in need. The other examples relate to the donations given towards our cafe work from St. Vincent De Paul and Greggs. Those assisted amount to 70 per week. The donation of growing materials for the GRUB club which meets every Tuesday to grow vegetables and fruit and have a communal meal based upon that which they grow. Then we have the children’s holiday club which will be on again over the Easter holidays, playing its role to reduce the incidence of children’s hunger. For this we thank both Sainsburys and Tesco for donations or running their “Farm to Fork” workshops with the children. As a church we want to be open to all, to continue in these great works, helping out where help is needed. 

“For us it would be counterintuitive to suddenly go into lockdown and become a forbidding fortress with locked gates, security cameras and walls that are designed to not be climbed. That to us is the opposite of what a church should be, even when it is closed. 

“Our latest venture of a Saturday night cinema, each week from 6pm, will not feel as good in a fortress as opposed to a place feeling free and open. All we are asking is for the grace to continue to work alongside our community to address our communal needs without fear of loss through these acts of vandalism which diminishes our work and depletes our resources. Together we can do so much to make Ardrossan a great place to live. Together we have achieved a lot already and we thank everybody and look forward to doing so much more together.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Police Scotland on 101.