Cash stolen from community cafe
THIEF TOOK HUNDREDS – BUT APPEAL RAISES THAN £2,000
VOLUNTEERS at community cafe in County Durham have been left outraged after hundreds of pounds were stolen from the premises.
REFUSE is a ‘pay as you feel’ community cafe in Chester-le-street that uses tonnes of good food that has been labelled worthless, whether it is due to best-before dates, damaged packaging, or cancelled orders.
Based on Front Street, more than £800 was stolen from its cash box that contained a week’s worth of takings.
The money is used to pay a number of essential bills, including rent, transport costs, insurance, training and supporting the volunteer programme. Founder Nikki Dravers, 28, slammed the thief and said ‘sorry’ to them.
Nikki, of Chester-le-street, said: “We are sorry that we were not able to help you, and that you found yourself in need so much that you felt you had to steal.
“REFUSE is an organisation that provides food, family and a warm place to be, we trust and welcome all into our community. We wish we could have helped you through whatever situation you’re in before we got here.”
The group launched a Christmas appeal after the theft, with more than £2,000 already raised.
Co-founder Mim Skinner, who lives in Durham city, said it was amazing to see the community come together and support the project.
The 28-year-old added: “Our volunteer team work so hard to keep good food available to everyone who comes in, so it hit hard that one of those people took a huge amount from our incredibly generous team. It left us a little down in the dumps. The response to the crowdfund though has just blown us away.
“It’s heartening to see so many people coming out to support us in such a hard moment.
“We can’t thank everyone enough, those who joined in by giving, sharing and popping in to cheer us on.”
Funds raised will go towards running costs that have been lost, installing a CCTV system and building a more secure and substantial storage and office space out the back, so this can never happen again.
A Durham Constabulary spokesman said: “Officers are investigating the theft, which was reported to police on December 4.
“Anyone with any information should contact Durham Constabulary on 101, quoting incident number 259 of December 4.”