A cookery school for people living with cancer has been vandalised by "mindless" thugs.
Ryan Riley, who set up the Life Kitchen in Sunderland following the death of his beloved mother, said he is devastated by the incident on Friday night.
The 26-year-old said: "It's disheartening but we are not going to be stopped by mindless hooligans.
"We're very disappointed but the community is behind us."
Ryan was inspired to set up the Life Kitchen after losing his mum Krista to lung cancer five years ago aged just 47.
Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy often struggle with tasting food, and Ryan wanted to give students the opportunity to learn how to prepare meals they can still enjoy.
Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson came to the launch in Sunderland in June and was full of praise for "inspiring" Washington writer.
Nigella, who lost her husband, mother and sister to cancer, said the work he does was "really important".
When Ryan tweeted pictures of the damage, Nigella replied saying: "This is so terrible. I’m so sorry."
On Saturday morning, Ryan discovered through CCTV that the windows at the property in Mowbray Park had been smashed at around 8.35pm.
"Something has been thrown into the glass and smashed it," Ryan said. "It didn't break through as we have security film on them but they've shattered.
"It's annoying as we're going to have to replace the windows.
"We have fully booked classes next Saturday and they'll be going ahead."
Though the incident was caught on camera, the culprit can not be seen so the organisation are beefing up security and are having new forward facing cameras installed this weekend.
"We shouldn't have to do that but if it's what we have to do to keep being able to provide the service we need to, then we will," he added.
"The community itself have been very good to us and we ask that they help us to stay here safely.
"It's disappointing that someone has done this to something that was made for the community but it won't stop us doing what we need to do.
"You can't let it get you down, you just have to move forward."
The incident has been reported to Northumbria Police and the force is now investigating.
