Dear Lockleaze,

This year marks the 50th anniversary of The Vench. Our adventure playground has been an important part of the Lockleaze community for three generations and has played an important role in providing a safe place for children and young people to play and grow.

It breaks our hearts to let you know that over the past year The Vench has been victim to over twenty attempted and successful break-ins. On the night of Saturday 5th March, we experienced our worst break-in yet which has caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.

““It makes me sad that people want to break into the Vench. I love the Vench because it’s fun and there’s lots of kind people.” ”

— E, aged 10

As a community facility which receives no core funding from Bristol City Council, we rely on donations and grant funding so that The Vench can remain open for today’s young people and future generations. These continued break-ins mean that money which could be used to open the playground more for local young people has to be diverted to costly repairs. The Vench is Lockleaze’s only remaining open-access provision for children and young people, and we are deeply concerned that these increasingly frequent break-ins will jeopardise the future of our much-loved adventure playground. There is a human cost as well as a financial one; Vench staff, volunteers, and young people feel deeply upset to find the place they love damaged, broken, with some parts unusable until they can be fixed.

We are reaching out to you as our neighbour and a resident of Lockleaze for help protecting this important community asset and to support our young people who are the future of Lockleaze.

Please help by:

Keeping an eye out and reporting your concerns to the police. Remember to comment where it counts, posting on social media isn’t enough!

Have a conversation with any young people in your household about being vigilant and collectively looking after our important community spaces.
Join our Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities parent group for training on how we can work together to create a safe space for young people in Lockleaze. Email lockleaze@groundwork.org.uk for more information.
Attend community meetings to stay up-to-date with local news and feed in your ideas. The next Our Lockleaze Community Forum is at The Hub on Thursday 24th March, 6:30-8:30pm.
If you are a parent or guardian and you notice a change in behaviour of your young person, please reach out for support by getting in touch with us at The Vench or contact your school pastoral team.
Volunteer to be a youth mentor to help support young people in Lockleaze, contact Rob Smith from St Marys & St James for more information: rob_smith_18@hotmail.com

Thank you for all your help and support. Together we can ensure that the Vench has another wonderful 50 years providing our children with a safe place to play and be kids!

Thanks,
Amy, Iulia & The Vench team
www.thevench.co.uk
lockleaze@groundwork.org.uk
07710 392 078

Dear Neighbour, the Vench needs your help