The Directors of Mallaig and Morar Community Centre were really disappointed to learn on the morning of Thursday 29th August that the Community Centre had been broken into overnight. The culprits had forced open the front doors, and then forced a number of internal doors to gain access to locked spaces including the Community Centre office, the bowling club cupboard and the college and library areas. A number of laptops were stolen, some belonging to the college, and one to the Community Centre itself. The office and some of the areas in the college and library were ransacked, and cleaning chemicals poured over everything, including our telephone and printer. Although the main hall and kitchen were unaffected, there will be quite a lot of work needed to other areas to reinstate doors, replace damaged carpet tiles etc. so please bear with us for the next few weeks while we get it all organised.
It's especially disappointing given how well used the building is by the community. Even on the Thursday morning, a vaccination clinic was due to take place, mainly for the over 75s, and Mother and Toddlers also had to find a new location for the day. The disruption meant that the Library couldn’t open, and while UHI students were able to continue their studies in the ‘unit’ in the Industrial Estate, they had to do so without their workbooks, which were in the main building. Friday saw yoga and scouts having to be cancelled or relocated, and the poor posties were not able to sort their mail at the Community Centre as usual on either day. We’re really grateful to those who offered their services to help tidy up after the mess. We’ve also set up a fundraising page. We are hoping to raise enough funds to cover the excess on our insurance and be able to install motion activated lights and a simple CCTV system to prevent something similar happening again.
Police Scotland have appealed for anyone who saw anything out of the ordinary to come forward. The culprits closed all the blinds when they entered the building, so even anyone who noticed this while passing the centre would help to narrow down the timescale.