Friday 22nd June was a bittersweet day on the Horsefield, Slaithwaite, Huddersfield. On one hand, we had a wonderful session full of joy and laughter, we had blueberry pancakes, melon and a lovely lunch for the helpers in the afternoon.

On the other, for the third time since moving to the Horsefield, we suffered a break in, discovered as practitioners came onto the Horse Field to set up for the session.

Thieves targeted tools and equipment from our locked storage shed (we now believe that a copy of the shed key was stolen Tuesday while practitioners were working onsite) to the tune of approximately £650, two-thirds of which were practitioners personal belongings, and nothing is covered by insurance. The police have been informed and are treating this as burglary.

In an ideal world, we would have more secure storage onsite for tools and equipment, maybe an impenetrable fence, security lights, alarms and moat of burning pitch. And in an ideal world people would not be compelled to take what is not theirs.

On behalf of the charity, I would like to thank practitioners and volunteers who went ahead and delivered Friday’s session in their usual professional manner after a particularly upsetting start to the day.

On a happier note, the thieves neglected to spot the wild strawberries growing near to the polytunnel, however, after Friday’s session they do seem to have disappeared. #helpyourself