Pakenham Little Athletics Centre (PLAC) has been buglarised after only a few short months at their brand new track, forcing them to sadly cancel events for one of their busiest times of the year.
Overnight on Monday 8 January, the PLAC clubrooms at IYU Recreation Reserve were forcibly broken into, where the perpetrating party would leave with a number of PLAC’s expensive and critically important equipment.
The following morning the head coach of PLAC would arrive at the reserve to see their containers, which stored their property, opened and in disarray.
Treasury of the volunteer-run PLAC committee, Renee Coombe labelled the act a ‘disgrace’.
“It was a shock and then after that it was despair really,” she said.
“To have this happen to everyone involved, the volunteers, the families, the council, all the people that worked to get this started. We had run a couple of meets here, it was a real kick in the guts.”
Vitally important equipment were stolen such as the PA system, timing gear and even their first aid gear.
“It all adds to about $17,000 of equipment taken from us,” Renee said.
“Things that had no value were left in puddles on the ground, other items were just broken. It’s a disgrace really.”
Without such equipment for time and triggering race, Renee says they can’t even run 100m sprint right now.
This forced the committee to not only cancel regular weekend meets for the immediate future, but to cancel their Open Day which was scheduled for 28 January.
“The open day is our biggest fundraising event, as a not-for-profit this time of year is vital for us. It really allows us to be able to support the club, the kids and buy more equipment,” she said.
“It’s the worst timing possible, if there is such a thing as good timing. We have to refund all the registrations for open day, wait for the insurance and then manage getting equipment.
“It’s not just affecting the kids, but the people behind it.”
It was only last October when PLAC moved into their new home at IYU Recreation Reserve with a brand new track.
“It was a long wait to get there and it was really exciting for the club to get a new track. We in fact had our first meet for 2024 on Saturday just before this,” Renee said.
“We saw a dramatic increase because of the track, all these families came back or joined up, for this to happen is such a disappointment.”
The community has already reacted to the news with support, the PLAC committee has started a GoFundMe for anyone who wishes to support them.
“The outpour has been great from the community, the council has been really supportive and other clubs as well, one of our sisters clubs has fortunately taken on our club for their meet this weekend,” she said.
“Whatever donations, we can put their name on our socials or even if they want to remain anonymous they can do that, anything is welcome.
“We aren’t looking for large sums, every little bit counts. For local businesses who want to donate we will happily give a big shout out.”
If you wish to support PLAC donate to gofundme.com/f/raise-much-needed-funds-after-our-break-in
