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The parents of the self-titled "Ilminster Two" are going to have to go some to convince the local ratepayers that vandalism can be accidental not blatant. The facts in the public domain are pretty bare, perhaps the parents of the miscreants can clarify the situation here. One undeniable fact remains: although more youth facilities would be desirable, there are no less facilities in Ilminster than existed in a day when vandalism (either accidental or blatant) was not commonplace. Sorry guv I "accidentally" vandalised the kiddies swings, mural, bogs, rubbish bins, doggy-doo bins, football stand, canal life preserver etc! I didn't maliciously smash my illegally bought cider bottle on the BMX ramp!

I think you're wrong there Sir Arthur, I remember stealing cars, selling drugs and going fighting at the football as a young teenager all of it quite accidental and in no way way blatant at all. My parents quite rightly defended their little soldier no matter what mud was slung his way by nasty authority types. Nothing for children to do my backside.

I must've missed out on all the fun Jonesy. I feel deprived because my (single parent) mum terrified me by warning "If you get into trouble, don't come home here moaning about it, or you'll be in worse trouble with me. Now go and do your homework." I knew she meant it, so that's where the mark was set down.

Dear Sir, I am disappointed reading the comments from the parents saying it was no way blatant but a accident. Sorry i do not agree. I have passed this area in the evening seeing some young people kicking the **** out of the play equipment or the guttering. Trying to light the sea saw or skate park. Nothing to do sorry i dont agree . Their are lots of clubs and organisations in Ilminster they could join. I dont think they will . As they have a hobby already , Damaging the facilities on the playing field. Which is unfair to everyone else who want to take their children to this area. Sadly it is only a small number of young people who give a bad reputation to the rest. It is a shame that this small group cant be locked up. Then hopefully the problems would stop .

It isn't just Ilminster Rec, it's everywhere! See Chard News. http://www.chardandi lminsternews.co.uk/n ews/cinewschard/disp lay.var.2199848.0.yo bs_ruin_trip_to_park .php Scumbags! Nothing to do my ar5e!

I would also defend my son in public - in private I would ensure he would not do anything like that again, I would also make sure he paid for the damage, wrote an apology to the council and all involved and was "grounded". This type of behaviour is not acceptable in our community and defence of their actions breeds more behaviour like this!

OK time to play Devil's advocate here, but for many young people Ilminster is undeniably a boring place to grow up. I left over 10 years ago but remember many a dull day spent "hanging about" the town, just killing time. Lots of people I know would be involved in petty vandalism back then, not because they wanted to break things, but purely because they were bored and don't give a second thought to the repercussions or the affect on the community. Organising clubs, groups and activities for teenagers won't work. At that age some kids, not all, have a real resentment of anything "establishment" and organised by adults. The reason they hang around the rec is precisely to get away from that and spend time with their equally clueless peers. I'm not condoning these kids activities, but from experience I can understand them. The best way to deal with it is to give harsh penalties to those that are caught and make and examples of them. Increase the police presence (not just PCSOs), increase the sense of community in the area so that if seen doing something wrong they know someone will phone their parents, and encourage said parents to punish their offspring and take responsibility. In your teens you spend a lot of time finding out who you are, so as a town you need to set up an environment where kids can do this and create their own entertainment if they don't want to be part of a club. Let them push the boundaries, but let it be clear that they're in a hell of a lot of trouble if they overstep the mark. This is how society acted in the past, you had to find your own entertainment but had social awareness and guidelines as to what was and wasn't acceptable. No-one is teaching youngsters these values now, so rather than just grumbling about the result look to the cause.

As one of the Ilminster two,I would like to defend my self against the comments on the web site. we were actully playing a game of football when the ball went in the wrong direction and hit the guttering on the toliet block which fell down this inccent has caused a lot of stress and anger to both myself and PARENTS!!! I would like to say i have a job plus help out at the youth club and have been for the last year working with people with dementa!! SO DONT JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER!!!!

All this 'in my day' rubbish is nothing but nostalgia for the old or the people that were un-popular all those years ago. I know the 'Ilminster 2' and whilst i'm not niave enough to believe that they are perfect all of the time i'm pretty sure that this time was accidental. However, that is not what the article is about. The arguement has some weight behind it. Ilminster has grown massively in the last 15 years and what provisions have been added? The youth club is the same size, the kids aren't allowed to use the rec etc to play football and anywhere they congregate they are moved on.......again. All that has been added to cope with the size increase is a Tescos that no-one wanted (strange how the bowling club changed their mind - nice new club they have) Join clubs and organisations? Sounds good to me Ilminster Resident, why don't you open the door to your home so you can cram them in and preach the good word. Whilst we are there we'll use that big old tar brush you have to use on them all. Look, it was never perfect in my day, your day or anyones day. Getting bitter about it won't help either. Stop harrassing them and telling them what they can't do and start telling them what they can do. We wouldn't be having this conversation if the police (the 2 that Ilminster, Chard and Crewkerne share) still had the power to instill fear into them. The whole idea that these 2 were sent off to meeting after meeting (wasting rate payers money) to 'discuss' it is hardly a deterrent. Equally i don't think the problem is any worse than 10 years ago (my hay-day), it's just that you all moan more.

Well done Tj of the "Ilminster Two". We all know who you are, but it's a pity people like "Sir Arthur Streeb Greebling" won't put there real name so we can all know who the moaning old ****** is, and thank him in the street for his patience and understanding

Ok then, here goes. Firstly I agree with (part of) what Steve Normandale has said: well done to TJ for putting your head over the parapet and giving your version of events. If TJ's account of how the damage was caused is correct, I agree it sounds like accidental rather than malicious. Good on you too for helping out at the Youth Club. However in Steve Normandales' "moaning old ****** " jibe, Steve appears to have missed (maybe ignored) the bigger picture; much of the vandalism in and around the Rec quite simply isn't accidental, it is what it is BLATANT and DELIBERATE. So no, I don't intend to be patient and understanding about vandalism and deliberate damage, particularly when so many of the people who are inconvenienced are children, even toddlers.

i am the other ilminster 2 as TJ said is exactly true because we did do it on purpose because i no how it feels to fix things because i help out down ilminster football club eg putting nets up and picking up broken glass on a saturday morning so i wouldnt do it on purpose. TELL ME WHAT THERE IS FOR KIDS TO DO IN ILMINSTER

I can tell you one thing you could both do, and that is to engage in extra English lessons to improve spelling and grammar!!

Well done RG who, like TJ has given his account of the situation, and who, apparently is also community-spirited. There are loads of things for youngsters to do, if you put your mind to it. However, lets reverse the question. What would YOU like to do and what entertainment would keep you and other youngsters out of trouble? (I already note that you're both involved with the footy club and the youth club). The problem that many of us old gits have is that we hear the cry "If there was more for us to do, we wouldn't trash the place", whereas in fact it's often not true. Ratepayers and taxpayers are sick of stumping up the cash, only to see the facilities (supposed to keep the kids occupied) being vandalised. Let's not run away with the idea that throwing more cash makes people behave better, why not ask all the well behaved youngsters (the MAJORITY) "What is it that keeps you from vandalising your local environment?"

Well said,Raymond of Ilton, you must be one of the "old school". On second thoughts perhaps we should all make an effort to learn the modern English language. I see frequent use of the word "lol" etc on this site which I do not understand. Can anyone shed any light on this?

Happy to help, Ida. LOL is text speak, normally meaning either "lots of laughs" or "laugh out loud", take your pick.

Nothing to do in Ilminster?? What about them enrolling in the Local Army Cadets who take boys and girls from the age of 12. They parade twice a week at Shuddrick Lane. If they don't fancy the Army cadets what about the Air Training Corp or Scouts ? "The nothing to do" comments always seems to be an excuse for not wanting to do anything. Perhaps if they got off the backsides and enrolled they may find they learn a bit of discipline.

i think you sad bunch of old t***s and moaning raymond's need to get over your selves not everyone is perfect, you have never spelt anything wrong then, the word that springs to mind is d**k the two lads have been dealt with with in a way which i think is fair had to pay for damages and spending time with the rec's gronunds man i am involved with ilminster football club and RG works hard on saturday mornings so just leave the 2 lads alone

Well said Dave from Ilminster! The kids have had their punishment sol eave them alone, and as for Raymondo get yourself a paper round or something instead of nit picking about peoples spelling. The main issue in all this is Ilminster has nothing for the kids to do! we've wanted a sports centre for about 20 years now but we'll never get it with the old gits on the council

Just to let you know Keith I don't have time at present for a paper round as I am fully employed and paying my taxes which go towards all the repairs after all the vandalism which surrounds us. As for the "old gits on the council" as you call them, perhaps people llike you Keith would like to stand at the next Council election.

"the ilminster 2" god that makes me laugh, you lot need to stop moaning and instead of sitting on your a** all the time wirting little comments, come to ilminster and start your own little clubs fot the teenagers to go to!! But NO you wont will you because its easier for u to throw little comments to these two bys which dont even deserve it as they both work hard and are going somewhere in life. and all you lot can do is make out they are such trouble makers, for goodness sake a LITTLE bit of guttering fell down!! Also saying that there are things to do in ilminster well you must be on about another place called ilminster because there isnt anything to do and not every one wants to go to Army cadets, Air Training Corp or Scouts and plus even if they didnt there wouldnt be enough room for them all. And the youth club opens once a week WOW so come on what else can they do?????? so i guess you lot grow up and put your self in there shoes and dont say we use to find things to do because things are different now and what ever they do find to do they get in trouble for anyway!! so get back to your sad lonely lifes and let these boys get on with theres!!!!

This is way beyond whether Tj and RG the self-titled "Ilminster Two" are wonderful people who love their mothers and help old people cross the road (and NO! this isn't aimed at those two). The wider picture is that MOST of our population (not just a few contributors to this page) are sick of the low level vandalism and plain nastiness of A FEW of our chavvy local yoof. I was interested in what keeps the MAJORITY of young people OUT of trouble, so I rang a few mates and spoke to neighbours, all people with kids (boys and girls) ages up to late teens, living in Ilminster and surrounding villages. Note! None of these kids have apparently come to the attention of the authorities. This is a list of what the parents said their kids did to occupy themselves 1. Getting on with schoolwork. 2. Playing on computer the rest, in no particular order Football clubs Part time jobs Helen Lesley School of Dance Kenpo karate Horse riding Fishing Carnival Clubs Scouts and Guides (Yes!) Army Cadets and ATC Gym (Ilminster Fitness Centre) Amateur theatrics Baton twirling Tennis Windwhistle golf Ilminster swimming club Ilminster (and others) Cricket Clubs Tennis Just doing stuff with their mates like good kids do ....there were probably more, but I lost the will to live by then. I don't think any of these things are closed to any of the yoof, but as Ilminster Resident pointed out these yoofs already have a hobby, i.e. damaging the playing field facilities. Spend millions on a much desired sports centre and they would probably trash that too and sneer at their own age group who did choose to use it. OK not everything on the list suits everyone but if NOTHING on there suits you, may I respectfully suggest that the problem lies with YOU (and with right charmers such as betty, keith and dave, who want to make excuses for you and sneer at others)? Whats that going clip-clop? Oh its the sound of more excuses being trotted out.

yeah well said tom from derbyshire. why hasn't there been a memorial put up in Albert square for poor old Pauline Fowler. who sadly died last year. Ray me old mucker get a life and leave the kids alone! glad to hear you have got a job. now get a life

There you go again, Keith, sneering at others! Your Tom from Derbyshire and Pauline Fowler comments were obviously the work of a great mind. Perhaps you will share the significance with us? Any positive suggestions, Keith, how we may help keep our next generation out of trouble?

Ok, Just a local Bloke, there are plenty of things to do - but some things need the right parental circumstances and commitment e.g for transport, which sadly are lacking in some cases for various reasons. Money is needed to pay for these activities, some of which do not come cheap. As has been suggested, ask the young people themselves what they would like to be able to do. Don't just condemn or offer options which may be out of reach.

Is there a local 'youth development officer' for Ilminster or even Somerset as a whole? Will the council not engage with the public on this issue? Is anyone accountable for youth development in Somerset?

In response to 'Adrian': Surely it's the responsibility of the parents to aid in the development of their own children; is it right to be in favour of a nanny state whereby we create community jobs purely as a scapegoat to judge & criticise. Let's not forget that these lads committed an accidently offence for which they: A) owned up to & B) have covered the cost of damages; so what i ask is all the sniping for?? Surely all of this is a counter-productive measure, the only obvious outcome being that if teenagers find themselves committing minor misdemeanours, their interests would be better served denying all knowledge & raising the police unsolved offence figures further! Is this what we want in todays' society? More importantly is this what we want for Ilminster??

.....as predicted, well done "Local" you've given them another green light. The list was merely an indication of what most of our well behaved local young people do that keeps THEM occupied and out of trouble. Loads of things there don't need transport and loads of things don't need much or any money. We're still waiting (and have been since Sir Arthurs posting 10:16am Fri 18 Apr 08) to be told what the yoof want to do. waiting waiting waiting......

well said local man you are right I'm a negative thinking guy sorry for everything I've said i didnt mean to call you a p****

der aint **** 4 us 2 do netink we do do we get arrested 4 it init

spangladeshi for Mayor I say. Youth needs a voice on the town council.

What, spangladeshi???? After I'd re-read it several times I think I worked out that there was FA for you to do. Yes but what do you want to do?

What's spangladeshi's profile? Who is he? Just an enigma perhaps? Sounds like it's Ilminster's sub-conscious?

i want a somhwhere new 2 go init grandstands and toilet block is boring

n adrian y u writin on dis if u from ireland init

I'm from the once glorious Ile on the Minster now living in Ireland. I remember sitting in the grandstand, (when I wasn't playing of course), thinking, 'what the hell am I gonna do?' So what the hell are you going to do?

"init"? [italic]"init"?![/italic] Rather than spend pots of public money on places and activities for the "Yoof" why not teach them how to construct actual words and, dare I say it, legible sentences? Quick question though; why, if you are still of school age, are you posting drivel at 3 in the morning on a school night? If you're not of school age then it's a pretty safe bet you aren't in employment so why should we pay for your leisure?

[quote]If you're not of school age then it's a pretty safe bet you aren't in employment so why should we pay for your leisure?[/quote] Not a safe bet at all, I'm 30, self employed and work regularly past 3am...

[quote]Not a safe bet at all, I'm 30, self employed and work regularly past 3am...[/quote] Fair comment, but your post is well written init...I'd also go so far to say that you don't hang around the rec!

as a friend of the ilmister two i thinku r all unfair i dont give two if i cant spell right or if u think there is things to do. why do we wont to go to cadets to be shouted at and spat on. we like footballso thats what we do and in one case something got broke what a f**King shame. so y dont the grumpy ones get off ur **** and get something for use to do.[bold]bold[/bold]

It is a symptom of our country today and an ever-growing minority in our society that important issues such as vandalism and what to do with our children in their ‘spare’ time cannot be discussed on this forum without the mindless abuse which has been used by some correspondents. They quite obviously have no thought for the wider implications of the issues concerned, only to have a cheap laugh – sadly, at their own expense! Much better that everyone could just be positive here and make some real suggestions to try and get the problem sorted. And it is a growing problem, but there really is no excuse for children / teenagers to say they have nothing to do. From my experience there is far more to do, more wealth among kids and every opportunity for them to be able to do something with their lives than there was one I was a child. It is good to see the two boys concerned are helping out in some positive ways. While I can understand that this incident might have been an accident and we can perhaps excuse them on this occasion (although I want to know why they had to kick balls around there and not on the other 20 odd acres), I grant them no excuse for not being able to string a couple of paragraphs together without making appalling mistakes in spelling and grammar. This is a poor reflection mainly on their families, secondly on the boys themselves for not wanting to do something positive with their lives or at school, and thirdly our education system which has failed them. But there lies the problem. And before someone jumps in, it is nothing to do with the current Government, it goes back much further than that, possible to the 70s, but it is certainly getting much worse now. Too many times we say headlines of binge drinking, people being beaten up – even killed - excessive drug taking, not being safe to walk the streets at night – these problems have always existed but they are much worse now. The country needs to take a very firm grip on our society’s problems now before it gets too late, and at all levels. And YES, that does include the parents; they should know at all times what their children – let’s call them that until they leave home because parents’ responsibility should last at least until then – are up to and where they are at all times. And yes, if that means punishing them then let’s do so. And if it also means dragging them in front of the courts and dragging their family name with them, then let’s do that too. Perhaps that will make the parents wake up and think. There is plenty for young people to do in Ilminster but there will obviously be some who won’t want to take part in any of these activities – just as there are plenty of young people who would rather be on the dole than do the work we now have to give to EU workers. But it is also an easy excuse, a simple get-out. I’m not even sure that opening the youth club every night would be the answer. When I was a kid we knew we could go there and have fun but it was a very different world back then – perhaps that is what we should be aiming for? I do know that while plenty of money has been ploughed into Vaughan Lee Old People’s Home in recent years, it did form part of a ‘twin project’ in the town back in the 60s with the Ile Youth Centre. You only have to take a look at the youth centre today to see it so desperately needs something done to it. A sports centre, or a swimming pool, in the town will turn out to be a millstone around the ratepayers’ necks but research in the town always seems to come up with these facilities as the cure-all. If people want that financial responsibility, then great but I’m not so sure I do. A couple of years ago the town council in my view wasted around £70,000 of ratepayers’ money on work on the lodge house at the cemetery; it then lay empty for two years. Why wasn’t that recreational facility money spent on the youth of the town? Why in their negotiations with the Tesco supermarket before it came to town, didn’t the local authorities – town, district and county – insist on some input by the company into a community centre / youth centre for the town, instead of the deals that were worked out for what is a small minority of its inhabitants at the bowling and tennis club. The community centre was right there, in front of the site! You have to pass the youth centre if you use the northerly pedestrian exit from the car park. Why when there was cash being handed out willy-nilly by Tesco to local organisations obviously to ingratiate the town when it was first opened, didn’t someone say – hey! if you want to do something useful here, plough some money into a new youth centre. As a matter of importance the children and youth of the town could be asked, through their schools and workplaces – and make sure they do participate – to have an input into what is needed in such a centre: perhaps a coffee shop, meeting room, TV room, games room, sports room for badminton, table tennis, OK even a bar for the older ones, make it inviting, make sure they understand that it is THEIR centre and they need to look after it just as they would their own hotted up supermini. I fear that now the development is completed there won’t be enough room on that site. I don’t know the answers, all I know is there have been many missed opportunities and it is now about time something was done before it gets too late – if it isn’t already. But please, let’s don’t just hurl insults at each other, especially you adults. That puts you on the level of the vandals.

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