The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Cheerleading club cash boost after break-in
A cheerleading club in Peterborough has been left feeling “overwhelmed” after raising almost £2,000 in the aftermath of its gym being broken into.
East Elite Allstars, on Saville Road in Westwood, was broken into overnight on Wednesday, May 2..
The gym sadly lost £1,600 in the burglary.
The money had been raised by the academy at its annual showcase fundraiser event last February.
"Unfortunately, the money we had saved and some of our equipment was stolen,” East Elite Allstars athlete, Faye Lester, 30, of Folksworth,
said.
"The office was trashed and the gym was left a mess.
"It’s supposed to be our safe space and somewhere we leave everything at the door.
"To have somebody come into our facility and invade our personal space was heartbreaking for everyone at the club.”
Faye created a GoFundMe donations page on May 26 and she has now crowdfunded £1,940 in almost one week.
In the first five hours of the donations page being created, a huge £1,600 was raised.
“For everyone who has donated, to find it within themselves to go out of their way to support us is overwhelming,” she said.
“It’s so generous and I wish we could give back to them because it means the world. You don’t realise how big the cheer community is until you are a part of it.
"We’re all so overwhelmed by the amount of support we’ve received and how the community has come together.
“It’s not just about the money – it’s about spirit, community and family.”
Faye says the money raised will go towards replacing stolen and damaged equipment. It will also be used to create an “athletes corner” in the gym. This section of the gym will offer young athletes a space to study and socialise.
A Cambridgeshire Police spokesperson said the force was called at 5.30pm on May 26 after the report of a burglary at a business in Saville Road industrial estate, Westwood.
Police and scenes of crime officers attended and the case has now been filed pending any new evidence uncovered by forensics.