A wave of crime is plaguing the YMCA in Athlone. Staff say attempted burglaries and robberies are keeping students away.
YMCA runs a daily after-school programme for young people. Y-Zone activities include sports, arts and crafts, games, and life skills.They also run a hostel for pupils attending tertiary institutions.
In the latest incident, two weeks ago, staff say two men jumped over the fence but then fled when they spotted the caretaker.
Rudy October, the hostel co-ordinator at the YMCA, said there had been attempted burglaries nearly ever week since the start of the year.
“They see us fixing the windows or doing renovations, and then they break in again. It really has become a norm now to the point where we don’t even report it anymore because it happens every week. Our students are so scared to come in the mornings or leave in the afternoons.”
Ms October said pupils were being robbed from 7am to 8am in the morning and then again from 3pm to 5pm in the afternoons and were too afraid to lay charges.
“The robbers say that they know they are from the Y and then rob them of their belongings. We had one pupil who was going to enrol and stay in the hostel and as he left he was mugged and threatened with a knife, and he didn’t come back. On the same day, another pupil who was already enrolled also got mugged in front of the premises.”
Police were now patrolling the area regularly after she had reported the incidents to them, she said.
Athlone police spokeswoman Sergeant Zita Norman said: “Students must be cautious when travelling. Every crime committed is taken seriously by police and will be followed up on. The crimes are recorded as part of our statistics so when it goes unreported in reflects false statistics for the area.”