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Charity devastated after car crashes into hub

Ellis Whitehouseand
Henry Godfrey-Evans,in Waltham Abbey
News imageHenry Godfrey-Evans/BBC Pesh Kapasiawala in a red and blue Only Fools and Horses themed Christmas jumper. He also wears a cap and glasses and looks at the camera with a destroyed building behind himHenry Godfrey-Evans/BBC
Pesh Kapasiawala said everything at the 3Food4U community centre was a "completely at a mess"

A charity has had to postpone events until further notice after a car crashed into the front of its community centre.

Staff and volunteers of the 3Food4U hub in Waltham Abbey woke on Saturday to the destruction of their centre in Highbridge Street.

The Essex charity provides a space for food banks, dancing and art groups and support meetings.

Pesh Kapasiawala, chairman of the charity trustees, said he was relieved no-one was injured but said the damage was "devastating".

"Whoever was in control of that car was clearly speeding and not in control of what they were doing," he said.

"Everything is completely at a mess, with potential structural damage as well which is why we've had to put these steel rods here as well to make sure the building is safe."

News image3Food4U A shopfront with its front wall knocked down with bricks and shattered glass strewn across the pavement. The branding "3Food4U.org" is printed above the shop frontage.3Food4U
The car is believed to have come off a roundabout and breached an iron barrier, before colliding with the building

Mr Kapasiawala said all health and wellbeing activities would have to be stopped until the building was repaired.

"It's devastating because people rely on our services throughout the year and we're open seven days a week."

Mr Kapasiawala was awarded a King's Award for Voluntary Service in 2024, and a BBC Make a Difference award in 2022.

He founded the charity during the Covid-19 lockdown to stop excess food going to waste.

News imageHenry Godfrey-Evans/BBC A man in a grey hoodie and orange high visibility jacket holds a box full of food. He is inside a kitchen or utility room.Henry Godfrey-Evans/BBC
Olu, a volunteer with 3Food4U, said there were various groups who would suffer as a result of the damage

Olu, a volunteer with the charity, said it was upsetting knowing that the art classes, dancing for schoolchildren and drug addiction support programmes would not run at the building for the foreseeable future.

"There's a lot of things that will be affected."

Lewis Smith, a property director who lives near the scene, said: "It's a shock for everyone that uses that facility and the food part as well.

"It's a hell of a shame."

The car is believed to have come off a roundabout and breached an iron barrier before colliding with the building, at about 00:45 GMT.

Essex Police said the people inside the vehicle left the scene before officers arrived.

The force appealed for anyone with information to contact its officers and to quote incident 46 of 20 December.

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