Thieves target Banbury area archery club in burglary

One of the instructors at the archery club discovered the break-in yesterday, Wednesday July 15.

Barry Bryant-Kobil, who runs the JB Archery Club, said: "They've broken the pad locks to the shed. It's where I repair the bows. It's the office. It's where I run the business.

"They took all the bows, 200 to 300 arrows and a load of tools. There's about £4,000 worth of bows to replace, and that's just the bows.

"I find it really hard to believe."

A lawn mower and metal detector were also stolen during the break-in.

Barry runs archery sessions on the grounds at The National Herb Centre, Warmington, Banbury, in the evenings and weekends. He also runs after school clubs during the summer months.

He added: "It started off as a hobby. I've built up my business from scratch. I've got my certificate for teaching archery.

"It's a place where people can come and just be themselves. It's not something I do for profit. It's just the happiness it brings to people when they come and have fun."

Along with the running the archery club, Barry also offers archery lessons for people with special needs on Friday nights.

Barry was invited to Buckingham Palace last year in May 2019 for the Queen's tea party as recognition for his service to the community.

While Barry hopes the break-in will be covered by insurance he has also posted an appeal on Facebook asking for anyone with information about the archery equipment to contact the JB Archery club.

Anyone with information should also call police on 101 quoting incident number 259 of July 15. People can also report information anonymously to Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

The burglary has led one of the club's members to start a Just Giving fundraising web page to help the club.

Jonathan Watts, who started the fundraising campaign, set a £3,000 fundraising target.

Anyone who would like to contribute to the 'Bring Back JB Archery' campaign can use the following Just Giving web link: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/go-for-goldJonathan said through the fundraising page: "This is a business run for the pleasure of seeing people enjoy a sport they might never have had easy access to, all run by a gentleman who does it for the love of the people who come to join in.

"When Barry isn't sharing his passion for archery (with basically anybody who wishes to learn) he spends his time supporting people in the community with learning difficulties and other special needs.

"Nobody deserves to be robbed, but this kind and generous man deserves something back. I think he has made so many people happy that we can make a difference by giving back to Barry by way of a donation to help him rebuild."

Another club member, Ivan Walsh, has also been impacted by Barry and the archery club.

Ivan, who started as a novice archer last month, said: "Due to his detailed and successful coaching, mentoring techniques and passion for the sport I am a proficient archer. Due to my progress I now own my bow and arrows, which Barry helped me source and I thoroughly enjoy the sport.

"I was introduced to the club by my father-in-law, Steve Jordan, who also lives in Banbury who joined the club a few weeks before me as a novice. He is now a proficient archer after coaching and mentoring from Barry. Steve too has built a good relationship with Barry.

"We have created an archery team, which attends every Saturday including my 16 year old brother, Joshua Dennett, and Mariana McNeill whom is a close family friend who travels from Daventry every Saturday for her archery lesson with Barry.

"Although we have not got to know Barry for long he has made a big positive impact in our lives.

"We know how hard he works for the council and his archery club, and we know how hard he has worked to build his business over the last three years and we feel devastated for him after his hard work was effectively destroyed in one night.

"He is a great teacher, mentor, a good person and a great member of our community and this terrible situation could not have happened to a nicer person, we all feel devastated for Barry, his coaching team and his family.

"However one thing is for sure....his army of archers are right behind him."

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