'Frustration' over ongoing graffiti problem

Jo Whitten said their charity would rather focus their resources on supporting the community

A community centre in Warwick has said it is "frustrating" to keep cleaning up graffiti that appears on its building and doors.

The Chase Meadow Community Centre at Narrow Hall Meadow said the problem has been going on for "at least" six months.

Jo Whitten, centre manager, said that as a small charity it takes up "resources and time that we really don't have".

Warwickshire Police said they have launched a criminal damage investigation, with officers in the process of gathering CCTV footage.

It follows a similar incident at Warwickshire County Council's Shire Hall headquarters on the weekend, when green graffiti with abusive language appeared across the main entrance and featured the same signature.

Shire Hall contains Warwickshire County Council and other services

Ms Whitten continued: "It's a small amount of time and a small amount of money, but as I say, we've got enough to do without having to [clean] that.

"We really do take pride in the centre here, we do try to keep it looking nice."

She said if the incident at Shire Hall was the same individual or group - which it appeared to be from the signature - it was a step up from their usual acts.

"It was really disappointing to see that on another public building, we've never had it to that extent or on that level.

"I would have been absolutely gutted to come and find our centre in that state, so I can only imagine how frustrating that was for staff."

The same signatures can be spotted graffitied on Hampton Road

Fay Abbott, a project worker at the community centre, said they have had to buy dedicated graffiti cleaning supplies for the centre's cleaning cupboard.

"It does frustrate me, because if they did something nicer then maybe we'd leave it up, but not just writing."

However, despite the annoyance she said that the centre's doors remained open if the culprit was a young person needing support.

"If they want to come speak to us, we could try and find somewhere for them to do the graffiti on, then that would be one way to try and tackle it."

Meanwhile Ms Whitten added: "It could be a real skill and a real talent if it was harnessed in the right way.

"I think we're really lucky in Warwick, there is so much already happening for children and young people.

"It's just, I suppose, we're potentially not engaging everyone and it's asking that question of how do we engage more young people."

The charity offers a range of classes and activities for adults and children - from toddler play groups to karate to dementia drop ins - run by outside groups, as well as a community cafe in term time, and uses money generated through room hire to pay the bills.

"Anything that we want to do for the community over and above that we have to fundraise for," she said.

Warwick District Council said that anti-social behaviour can be reported on its website.