Charity tin for Zoe's Place Baby Hospice stolen from Coventry store

Thief smashed a window at Wallpaper Warehouse before taking hundreds of pounds



A smash-and-grab thief caused hundreds of pounds of damage at a Coventry DIY store before stealing a charity tin for a baby hospice.

The heartless theft took place at Wallpaper Warehouse, in Allesley Old Road, Chapelfields, after the culprit smashed their way through a window in the early hours of Wednesday.

They then stole the collection tin in aid of the much-loved Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice in Ash Green.

The damage caused to the window is estimated to be around £250.

Roy Kelly, managing director of Wallpaper Warehouse, said: “We have placed a collecting tin at the store for the past two years and understandably our staff were shocked when they arrived to see the window smashed.

“When we realised that the only item that appears to have been taken was the collection tin the shock turned to anger and they are very upset about the theft.

“So much so they are considering taking on a fundraising event such as a tandem skydive or the Snowdon trek to help recover the money that was stolen.”

Mick McCann, fundraising manager for Zoe’s Place, said: “Wallpaper Warehouse have taken the hospice to their heart after one of their employees, Sharon Line, took part in the Coventry Half Marathon raising nearly £1,000.

“It’s shocking that after recently announcing how difficult it is to raise the funds we need to open every minute of every day, that somebody would stoop so low as to steal a collection tin from a charity.

“Every £25 we receive provides one hour of high quality nursing care for a baby at the hospice and as we receive very modest funding from the Government every penny donated really counts.

“Most importantly we want to bring to the attention of the public that we are concerned about the tin being used fraudulently and to let people know we do not conduct collections in the streets, pubs and clubs or door knocking.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Donations flood in after Zoe's Place Baby Hospice charity tin was stolen



Coventry’s only baby hospice has been inundated with kind-hearted donations since a charity tin was stolen from a city store.

Thieves smashed their way in to Wallpaper Warehouse, in Chapelfields, earlier this month and left with nothing but a collection tin for Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice.

The offenders caused £250 worth of damage to a window during the break-in during the early hours of Wednesday July 6.

However, within hours of the Telegraph reporting the theft, donations came flooding in from those touched by the story.

Roy Kelly, managing director of Wallpaper Warehouse, said: “Following on from our staff wanting to help raise funds by taking on a challenge like a skydive or the Snowdon mountain climb being organised by Zoe’s Place, we have had a customer hand in a donation of £60 to cover any money that was in the collection box.

“Then our insurance brokers got in touch and said they would also like to help.

“So the good news at least is that the charity won’t be out of pocket after such a pitiful incident.”

Those insurance brokers are Corrigans, based in Allesley, and their sales director Dean Henningham added: “We were very shocked when we were informed about the crime and just felt we had to do something in addition to supporting Roy and his team, by helping such a deserving, local charity.”

Staff at Corrigans will be having dress-down Friday’s, a bake-off competition and a darts tournament to raise funds for the baby hospice based in Ash Green.

Mick McCann, fundraising manager for Zoe’s Place, said: “One of the things I find most rewarding about my job is the remarkable number of gestures of kindness we hear about from local people supporting us.

“This is another example and we are truly appreciative of this support.

“During the last two years over £2million has been donated to the hospice to enable us to provide care for babies and infants with life-limiting and life-threatening illnesses and the vast majority of these donations have come from individuals and companies across Coventry and Warwickshire so you can see how kind and caring local people are.”