A CHARITY set up to turn teenagers away from crime by training them as mechanics has had seven of its vehicles stolen.

Trax, which is based at Red Barn Farm, in North Oxford, offers qualifications in motor mechanics, as well as other skills, to young people aged between 13 and 21.

The charity was set up in 1992 after a spate of car thefts around Oxford and works with about 500 young people to turn their lives around by learning the trade in one-to-one sessions, taking part in team-building exercises, and learning social skills.

But between Saturday night and Monday morning the charity, which recently moved from the Osney Mead business estate, in Oxford, to the former farm, off Woodstock Road, was raided by thieves, who stole seven go-karts used for training.

Project manager Tamsin Jones said: “The gates to the grounds were open and all of the locks had been forced.

“Then we went to pick up the young people and found that somebody had broken the ignition on our van, as they broke the steering lock to move it out of the way.

“That was when we looked in the kart shed and realised that seven of them were missing. It looks like they loaded them all on to our trailer and stole that too.”

Ms Jones said the secondhand karts, worth about £300 each, were only used to help teach mechanical skills and were dangerous to drive, because they had not been used for racing for about 10 years.

She added: “Somebody must have seen something. It’s not very often you see a trailer with seven old go-karts on it, so you would think somebody would remember it.

“I feel really disappointed. The work we do here is really important.

“Now we have to rebuild our workshop, so it’s safer, get our minibus fixed, and somehow find the funds to replace seven go-karts. It’s going to take a lot of time, effort and money to get back to where we were.”

Trax hopes to recover some of the costs from insurance.

Matty Wilde, 18, from Headington, has been going to Trax for two weeks.

He said: “Everyone is just really peeved.

“We’ve turned up but we can’t get on and do anything, because there are no karts to work on.

“The project has helped me loads. I never really liked going to school, because I didn’t like being told what to do, but Trax shows you what to do instead and I’ve really enjoyed it.

“It makes me really upset that there are people out there who can steal from a charity.”

Anyone with information should call Thames Valley Police on 08458 505505 or Crime stoppers on 0800 555111.