The team at Sycamore Adventure children’s playground have been left reeling after being broken into multiple times in the last few months.

The facility, based on Sycamore Green in Upper Gornal, was most recently targeted this week with thousands of pounds worth of damage added to an already increasing bill. A spokesperson for the centre said:

“Over the last few months we’ve had numerous break in’s resulting in go-karts being stolen and holes being cut in perimeter fences. However we normally just brush ourselves off, put on a smile and carry on as normal for the children.

“However [this week] we were targeted again and this was the worst yet. It caused an awful lot of mindless damage that is going to take a little more than a few nails and wood to be able to fix.”

Alongside money generated through entrance fee’s and food and drink sales, the centre relies heavily on customer donations to continue its work and has little in the way of money to fix the damage caused by the latest break in. The spokesperson added:

“They broke into our storage area at the back of the waterfall by kicking in the panels and then they broke the wheels off the go-karts we have left, damaging the locks and door in the process.

“The staff have been amazing and have worked really hard to make it safe for the centre to open so as not to disappoint all the children that were coming to us.

“However we need to replace the panelling that was destroyed gaining entry as well as look into a more secure door to stop this being repeated again.

“We love what we are able to offer here at Sycamore as we are very unique and we want to be able to continue to do so for many years to come so that many more children enjoy being able to play.”

Bosses have put out an appeal asking the public to help in any way they can - whether through donations or offers of materials or labour.

Offers of support can be sent through their GoFundMe page at gofund.me/db45f414 or by contacting the centre directly through their Facebook page.