Supporters have rallied round St Vincent's Hospice after thieves raided one of its shops just days before Christmas
A hospice has paid tribute to its supporters and the local community for helping it to swiftly re-open one of its charity shops.
Staff at St Vincent's Hospice were left in shock this week after the organisation's shop in Glenburn was raided by thieves.
Along with taking the contents of the till and safe, the thieves caused extensive damage to the shop.
However the store has managed to reopen in time for Christmas after supporters came out in force to support the charity, offering money, time and effort to help get the shop back on its feet.
Chief executive of St. Vincent’s Hospice, Kate Lennon, said: “This week started with the shocking and sad news that someone would do this to a charity which works so hard for people during some of the most difficult times of their lives. In the few short days since then, however, we have been absolutely overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of so many people from throughout the community, who were committed to getting us back on our feet in time for Christmas.”
The hospice has received hundreds of pounds in donations via anonymous drop-ins and its JustGiving page. This included Olivia Anderson, who made a donation of £640 on behalf of her family in memory of her mum, who was cared for at St Vincent's.
The charity was also inundated with offers of support from trade workers and organisations offering to carry out work to repair the damage to the shop. After learning that the door to the shop was damaged beyond repair, joiner William Galloway contacted his suppliers at A1 Ironmongers and is now supplying and fitting a brand new door completely free of charge.
Moya and Willie Paton also went above and beyond the call of duty, stopping by the store the day after the break-in to provide staff with a new cash register.
Lennon added: “There are too many people to thank individually, but whether you have made a cash donation, shared out posts across social media or offered your time and effort to help fix the store, please know how humbled and grateful we are for all of your support. Our team work extremely hard 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and to see how much this means to so many is genuinely heart-warming, especially so close to Christmas."
