Town rallies to replace toys stolen from church
Toys were for the needy and burglars also took foodbank items BURGLARS ALSO TOOK ITEMS FOR FOODBANK
A COMMUNITY has shown its generosity in supporting a church hit by a burglary where a box of new toys was stolen.
Intruders smashed through the front door of Our Lady and St Gregory’s Catholic Church in Market Bosworth and took a large container of puzzles, books and other items, on the night of Monday, December 2.
They also made off with items from a foodbank at the Station Road venue – a month after another attack on the premises.
Since news spread of the theft, donations have been made to replace the items.
The new gifts include a pop-up pirate game, a medical implements set, a Lego set and colouring books and crayons.
The collection was meant to be going to Faith in Families, a charity which supports needy children across the East Midlands.
The church plans to send the new donations on Wednesday.
Jane Alesbrook, 64, has been part of the church for 40 years and is well known in the area as she used to work as a librarian in the town.
She picked up an anonymous package from Amazon last week with a message from “Santa” and playthings inside.
She said: “It’s absolutely brilliant. Bosworth is a lovely community. People do tend to react when there’s an unfortunate incident.
“It’s very community-minded. lovely.”
Neighbours have also given her toys and members of St Peter’s Church of England church in the town have said they would like to donate some replacement playthings.
Ashley Barratt, 40, from
It’s
Leicester, donated £500 to Faith in Families.
He was on holiday in Scotland with his wife and their youngest child, who is 20 weeks old, when they read the story.
“No child should be without a present at Christmas. What the charity does is a fantastic thing – it’s sad the children would lose out,” he said.
“We have three children of our own. No-one wants to see children going needy.
“I own a couple of companies. I thought it would be a nice thing to do. We are both from Leicester originally and we thought it would be a good thing to do.”
Ashley runs CDS Global, which also supports Help the Homeless and Hope Against Cancer.
A police spokesman said the burglary was reported to the force at 3.30pm on Tuesday.
He said: “Entry was forced through a door. A small number of items were taken from a foodbank and some children’s toys.”
In a previous incident about a month before the burglary, a key safe at St Gregory’s was broken into, but the offenders did not get access to the building.
Father Frank Daly, minister at the church, said it is “a lovely church and good to the community, an outward-looking group”.
He also serves at St Peter’s Catholic
Church in Hinckley, where vandals destroyed two memorial plaques at the entrance to the cemetery last month.
Two granite tablets used to record the names of those whose ashes are interred in the burial ground were removed and cracked.
A week before, thieves targeted a community minibus parked in the church car park in an overnight raid.
Offenders left the Hinckley and Bosworth Community Transport minibus with its rear passenger wheel jacked up, along with some tools and a backpack, after the vehicle’s alarm went off and disturbed them.