Thieves steal gifts for disadvantaged families
Dedworth: Businesses and residents rally to donate presents
Presents destined for disadvantaged families this Christmas have been stolen during a break-in at a community hub in Dedworth.
Thieves targeted All Saints Church, in Dedworth Road, overnight on Wednesday, December 2 and took gifts which the West Windsor Hub had been planning to distribute to children in the area.
Goods stolen included selection boxes, a Diamante watch and Waitrose vouchers, which had been donated to fill Christmas hampers.
Cllr Carole Da Costa (West Windsor Residents’ Association, Clewer & Dedworth East) said:
“It’s the third time the church has been broken into since September and I was just really upset because if this person was in need and they had come to us we would have helped them.”
Carole, who set up the West Windsor Hub to support struggling families during the coronavirus outbreak, put a message out on social media about the break-in and was ‘amazed’ by the response.
Donations have flooded in since with businesses such as Windsorbased tanning salon, California Tanning, backing the appeal as well as fellow charities including Community Christmas.
“Because of the way the community has rallied, we could actually do so much more than we had the resources to do before,” Carole said. “I’m just amazed by the people that live in our community, it’s been absolutely fantastic.”
Thames Valley Police said it is investigating the burglary but no arrests have been made.
Call police on 101 quoting the reference number 43200407385 if you have any information.