Community lifeline destroyed

A GARDENING group set up to help people with disabilities has been hit by an arson attack which destroyed almost everything it owned.

About £3,000 worth of gardening tools and catering equipment were lost in the blaze, which gutted a garage on Little Chester Allotments.

The garage was rented by Derwent Green Gym, a voluntary group run to give people with learning difficulties and physical disabilities a creative and social outlet.

Now, after the attack, Green Gym project leader Kevin Pennick said he was heartbroken.

The 57-year-old said: "I can't really put into words what I am feeling. It's just devastation."

John Kitchen, 49, who lives with his 81-year-old mum, Elwyn, visited the Green Gym once a week.

Mrs Kitchen said her son, who has cerebral palsy, relied on the group as a lifeline.

She said: "It's such a tragic shame. It's awful that someone would do this deliberately. John goes once a week and it is really the only time he can get out of the house.

"His disability makes things very difficult for him and he has made some good friends in the group. Kevin is very patient and kind. He gave John a tomato plant and John brought in home to look after and it's doing so well."

Kimberley Guest said her 10-year-old daughter Krystie visited the Derwent Green Gym because she did not have a big enough garden at home.

She said: "Krystie does not have a disability but she is home-educated. She really enjoys going and she like getting out of the house. She has met lots of different types of people and connected with the community.

"Over the last five years we turned a semi-derelict area into something people were proud to walk around.

"People used to ask me if they could look around because it all looked so good.

"And now we have lost almost everything we own to keep things going."

Mr Pennick said the garage had contained gardening tools, catering equipment, a lawn mower, Rotovator and food and drink, along with other hardware and tools, all of which were destroyed in the fire.

The group, which runs three days a week and occasional weekends, helps about 45 people a week of all ages and from all over Derby.

Mr Pennick, of Derby, said he was determined the fire, on Saturday night, would not shut down the group.

He said: "We are still going to hold gardening sessions. We just can't do all the things we used to.

"Some kind allotment owners have offered to lend us tools and we will do what we can. I've bounced back from worse."

The Green Gym was set up five years ago under the New Deal programme, which saw investment of millions of pounds in deprived areas of Derby.