School rallies round as heartless burglars steal Nuneaton family's Christmas presents

[dutchman]

The school has rallied to organise a last-minute fund-raiser to bring in cash to replace the stolen gifts



The true spirit of Christmas is alive at a Nuneaton school which has rallied around a pupil whose Christmas presents were stolen from her home by callous thieves.

Heartless burglars struck at the home of a Year 4 pupil at Michael Drayton School, stealing not only her presents but those for the rest of her family as well as treasured personal items.

Shocked by the cruelness of the theft, Diane Compton-Belcher, headteacher at the school, has organised a last-minute fund-raising non uniform day in school tomorrow to help raise enough cash to replace the stolen gifts.

“I saw it on social media at the weekend and saw that it was one of the pupils here,” she said.

“I spoke to her mum in the morning and explained what we wanted to do. Why should children not have a Christmas because of what has happened?

“It is dreadful when an burglary takes place, but for it to be so close to Christmas and to have had presents stolen, for me, it maximises the impact of it.”

So, in a bid to raise money, the headteacher quickly organised a last-minute non-uniform day.

It is a gesture that has been welcomed wholeheartedly by the school community.

“We have over 500 children at the school, we are quite a large school, but we are a school in the community,” the headteacher added.

“Our catchment area includes Galley Common, Ansley, Camp Hill and parts of Stockingford. We have a real community spirit here, everyone has got each other’s backs and everyone is getting behind it.

“We just wanted to make sure that Christmas is as special as it can be under the circumstances.”

Once all of the money has been collected tomorrow it will be handed over to the pupil's family.

“We wanted to do it so that the mum will have the money on Thursday and spend it in time for Christmas,” Mrs Compton-Belcher said.

“I am sure that they have insurance, but they are unlikely to get it for a while. We just want to help them.”