A CHARITY has been forced to dip into its own funds to pay for hundreds of pounds worth of damage caused by vandals who broke in on a wrecking spree.

The gang broke into the Cerebral Palsy Care learning centre, in View Road, Cliffe Woods, near Strood, destroying the rear fire exit door.

They searched the building before making off with a fire extinguisher.

But now the charity has been forced to raid its fundraising money to pay for the damage.

Staff in the fundraising department were devastated when they realised just how much they would have to pay because of the mindless yobs.

Linda Phillips, fundraising manager for the charity, said: ÒThere was no other damage inside the centre and it seems nothing else was taken, but we had to pay for a new door and new security locks.

ÒAll in all, it cost us a couple of hundred pounds and that means extra pressure on us to do some more fundraising to pay for the damage.Ó

Worst of all, the centre failed to meet this yearÕs fundraising target of £200,000.

They were down by around £30,000 and the break-in, which happened two weeks ago, couldnÕt have come at a worse time.

Mrs Phillips said: ÒWe hadnÕt reached our target anyway, but we still had to use the fundraising money to pay for everything.

ÒThis was another blow to us, we start the new fundraising year on a downer.Ó

The learning centre caters for children and adults with cerebral palsy and provides them with education and social interaction.

The centre relies on fundraising methods alone to keep going, but despite its invaluable contribution to the community, yobs are constantly targeting the centre.

Mrs Phillips added: ÒThis is the fourth break-in we have had in 18 months and every time we have to use our funds to pay for all the damage.Ó

If you want to donate money towards the CPC learning centre, call the fundraising team on 01634 220330.

Anyone with details on the break-in should call Medway Police on 01634 884252.