Thieves steal from charity's doorstep

CHARITY shop bosses in Felixstowe are outraged today after donated goods including a rocking horse were stolen from outside a store.

Organisers of charity shops said it is quite common for goods left overnight outside their doors to be targeted by thieves, who are thought to then sell the items off at car boot sales.

The latest suspected theft happened from outside the Cancer Research UK shop in Hamilton Road, where a rocking horse and several black bags of items were left on the doorstep on Sunday.

Shop manager Teresa Fonnereau said: “First thing Monday morning someone said could I buy the rocking horse which was left outside your shop yesterday. I said, what rocking horse?

“Since then we have had ten other people coming in asking if they could buy the rocking horse - it was said to be a beautiful toy, and we could have sold it to raise money for the charity to fund vital research into cancer. It makes me very angry.

“Instead, it appears to have been stolen, along with other things which people also said they saw had been left there.

“This is not the first time it has happened. We have had items stolen before from the doorstep - as have other charity shops.

“Even if we report it to the police there is not much they can do as we have no idea usually what has been stolen if people just leave black sacks of stuff, and then you need witnesses who have seen the items being taken.”

The shop is hoping the rocking horse thief might have a conscience and return the goods to the charity shop.

A spokeswoman for the Red Cross charity shop in Hamilton Road, said similar thefts had happened there.

She said: “We have a notice asking people not to leave donations when the shop is not open, but part of the problem is that people want to donate anonymously and so leave the stuff anyway,” she said.

What do you think of tthieves who steal from good causes? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk