Plants stolen from charity hub day before opening

Plants have been stolen from a "devastated" west Hull charity the day before it launches its newest community centre.

Giroscope housing and regeneration charity opens its Community Enterprise Centre on Friday lunchtime at the former St Matthew's church, on Boulevard and Anlaby Road.

Plants worth about £250, which were among those put in the ground on Wednesday in readiness for Friday's event, have been taken, leaving little time to salvage the situation.

The co-founder of the "forgiving" and well-established social enterprise called on the perpetrator to return the plants; and said it would welcome any community support as it races to install temporary bedding plants before visitors arrive.

Martin Newman, Giroscope co-founder and coordinator, said: "All our staff and volunteers have been working really hard to get everything ready for the grand opening. It's frustrating, the day before a big event, that people have put a lot of work into."

He added that Giroscope was a forgiving charity and would like the perpetrator to bring the plants back.

Simon Church, tenancy sustainment officer, said that through donations and funding from the charity, volunteers and staff had been planting a garden area especially for the ticketed opening of its new enterprise centre on Friday at 13:00 BST. He said: "We feel devastated. We had a beautiful area ready."

Giroscope has been running for more than 40 years in the deprived Newington and St Andrew's wards of Hull. With an ethos of community regeneration, it provides people with opportunities to gain accommodation and employment.

It acquired the former church in 2018, and renovated it to create an enterprise hub to help local people get a roof over their head, gain skills needed for work, or rent office space.

A spokesperson for Humberside Police confirmed it had received a report that a number of plants had been stolen from a property at St Matthew's Church in Hull.

The police would like anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or who has any information, CCTV or dashcam footage, to get in touch.

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