The assistant manager of a Dundee charity has shared his heartache after a minibus was deliberately set on fire.
Alan Ross, from The Jericho House on Artillery Lane, shared images on social media of the burnt-out vehicle.
He said: “We’re all absolutely devastated.
“The van is the one way we can take the people who need help to recovery meetings.
“We also use it, maybe not as much at this time of year, to take them on excursions. We go bowling, we went to Dunnottar Castle last summer.
“It’s well used and we really don’t know what we’re going to do. It’s a massive, massive hole in what we do here.”
The staff at the Jericho House were made aware of the damage on Wednesday afternoon.
Alan said: “We have an agreement with the mosque along the road where we leave the van in their big car park.
“We’ve spoke about it with our bosses and the society and we’re going to have to replace it, one way or the other.”
The minibus was in use up until it was set on fire on Tuesday night.
Alan said: “We were out in it last night in Monifieth. We had plans to drive to Fife next week. That’s the way we generally use it.
“Not having a minibus really narrows what is available to us and it now limits what we can offer those who are in here.
“We offer a holistic approach to recovery and a big part of that is having excursions and events planned for them.
“It was like a punch in the guts for everyone, we’re so limited with what we can do for them.”
Dundee charity seeks assistance after minivan fire
Alan issued a plea on Facebook for people and businesses in the area to offer assistance to the charity.
He said: “We don’t have a great deal of money. It was insured but it was an old van so we won’t get a great deal for it.
“This house has a good record, the guys do a lot of stuff for charity and this could be this year’s focus unless something comes up before then.
“The purpose of my Facebook post was to see if, even in the mean time, anyone can come up with any solutions and help us out in any way.
“We’re all ears and will be really grateful if there was any help out there.”
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that they attended the area at 1am on Wednesday morning.
They left the scene at 1.35am after extinguishing the fire.
Police Scotland has been approached for comment.
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