Volunteers 'angry' as £10,000 garden tools stolen
BBCA community park project has had about £10,000 of garden equipment stolen from its storage unit.
The Friends of Bartley Park, at Ashurst Bridge Road in Totton, Hampshire, have transformed 25 acres of woods and grassland into more accessible and wildlife friendly spaces over the last five years.
Items including strimmers, mowers and a brand new wood chipper were stolen from the group between 17:00 BST on Thursday and 10:30 on Friday, leaving volunteers feeling "shocked" and "angry".
Teresa Young, a retired police officer and one of the volunteers, has been supporting Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary as it tries to track down the culprits.
"They must have had a lot of people because there was a lot of tools that were stolen," Young said.
She has been carrying out house to house inquiries, handing out flyers asking people with information to share it with police.
She added that the community support had been "unbelievable" and they had already received donations of replacement items.
"Knowing that people are coming up and saying, 'you've got our support, we've got you', is lovely," she said.
The group picked up a BBC Make a Difference Award in 2025, for its work revitalising the area.
Her husband, Dave Young, who founded the group, said that his "heart sank" when he heard about the theft.
He added: "I haven't fully taken it all in. I didn't believe that somebody would be so cruel as to come in here and take away a community groups equipment, for us to do a really nice job here."
He added that those behind the theft "don't seem to care about the damage they have done" to the group and the community.
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