Arson anguish for drama group

The items belonging to the Evergreen group were being stored in a house, linked to the Bestwood Centre, on Bestwood Road on the Bulwell/Bestwood Village border.

The house was also used to teach life skills, such as cooking and cleaning, to adults with mental health problems who use the Bestwood Centre.

Tim Baggs, from Nottingham City Council, which runs the centre, said: "It's shameful. Everyone connected with the centre is appalled by what's happened.

"But we are determined that it won't spoil the festivities planned for Christmas and the New Year."

Fire crews were called to the house at about 3 pm on Sunday December 5 after someone broke into the house and piled up clothes and furniture in three rooms before setting them alight.

It was an hour before the blaze was brought under control and the three rooms were severely damaged. Eyewitnesses say a youth was seen running away from the area.

The house is one of four homes on Bestwood Road owned by the centre. It had been empty for years after previously being the home of the day centre's caretaker.

Mr Baggs added: "Sadly a very wide collection of costumes and clothes used by the Evergreen group were in the house.

"Costumes which were donated by charities and adapted by day-centre members and their families have now been lost. Many hundreds of hours of very careful and rewarding work has been destroyed. It's very upsetting for staff and for centre members."

Luckily the group had a few costumes saved elsewhere and did not have a Christmas performance planned. Their next show in the spring.

However the life-skills programme will be disrupted because it must be moved from the quiet atmosphere of the house into the busy environment of the day centre.

Said Mr Baggs: "A lot of very valuable work is done in small groups and on a one-to-one basis. We will have to see what we can do."

The day centre is used by about 90 people each day and offers a range of training and activities for adults with mental health problems.

It enables full-time carers and families to have valuable time to themselves, knowing that their loved ones are being looked after safely.

Mr Baggs appealed for the people in the Dispatch district to help out with the costume crisis.

"If people have a costume lying around, it might come in handy and would be a really nice way of responding to the fire," he said.

Police are investigating and are asking any witnesses with information to ring 0115 9670999 and ask for Bulwell police station.