A children’s charity which set up a fundraising page to repair the damage from a burglary has doubled its fundraising target in less than 24 hours.
The TOY Project UK, a charity shop on Junction Road which recycles unwanted toys, incurred costs of nearly £300 when it was raided on Monday morning.
The owners set up a GoFundMe page later the same day, but by Tuesday had raised £640, more than double their original target.
Thank you to everyone who donated. You have covered our costs of the burglary and more! We are so grateful for the continued support. Open today as usual!
— thetoyproject (@theTOYprojectuk) March 13, 2018
Jane Garfield, co-founder of the charity, said: “The café next door to us telephoned me at 6.45am to say that our door had been smashed and that their shop also had its door broken. I arrived at the shop at 7am.”
“The glass door was smashed with a large rock, the till was pulled from the wall along with our credit card machines, our radio is broken, and there was glass everywhere!
“A Nintendo DS which was on its way to a child in need was stolen along with many DS games,” she added.
Police and forensics teams were quick to arrive at the scene.
Fundraising efforts have covered the costs of the incident, including £200 to replace the broken glass panels on their front door, and £30 for each card reader stolen, but the till is yet to be replaced.
WANTED Anyone got an old shop till that they no longer need – nothing fancy – just needs to add up and lock!!! Happy to pay ????#ourswasstolen
— thetoyproject (@theTOYprojectuk) March 13, 2018
The TOY Project, which was founded in 2013, also raises money through the sales of unwanted toys for children and families, including hospitals, hospices, and child bereavement centres.
In response to the swift fundraising, Miss Garfield said: “We are grateful to the fantastic response from our friends and customers for raising so much money so quickly to support us.”
Donations can be made via their GoFundMe page.
