Air ambulance Charity shop raided by thieves
ACHARITY shop in South Gloucestershire has been targeted by thieves who stole cash donations meant to help people suffering life-threatening injuries.
Staff at the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity shop in Yate were “shocked and disappointed” to find their collection globe smashed on Tuesday morning and its contents stolen.
The charity, which provides emergency care to people in critical conditions, had been collecting muchneeded funds in its “one of a kind” collection globe, which the shop said staff had a “sentimental attachment to.”
Between £70 and £100 of cash was stolen which had been donated to the shop over a number of years.
Yate shop manager Marwa Bahssali found the collection globe smashed when she came to open the store after the bank holiday weekend. She says the team, made up of staff and volunteers, are “heartbroken” by the breakin and are urging anyone who knows about what happened to contact police.
Marwa said: “Someone had gained entrance through the front door and then located our huge collection globe towards the back of the shop. They smashed it open and managed to grab most of the banknotes, before making off.”
She said no high-value items were taken, and luckily the tills were empty. But she added the collection globe is “damaged beyond repair” and will likely cost between £100 and £200 to replace.
“People have had the kindness to donate money that they would have worked hard for, to help save the lives of people in Yate and beyond. It’s the sadness that someone has made so much effort to break into our wonderful shop and take that cash for themselves that disappoints us so much,” she continued.
“Something like this is heartbreaking for our wonderful team of staff and volunteers who work tirelessly and donate so much time to running our charity shops. But we’re determined not to let this affect us.
“We are of course tightening our security, but we are open for business, and we’d like to thank everyone in the community for their continued support. I am asking anyone who knows anything about this incident to make contact with us, or please contact the police.”
The charity shop says police have been informed of the incident and staff at Yate Shopping Centre are looking through security footage to gain more information about the break-in.