Thieves strike at Christchurch Food Bank stealing over a thousand pounds of festive goodies

Staff at Christchurch Food Bank were devastated to find thieves had stolen over a thousand pounds’ worth of Christmas food intended for struggling families.

The charity revealed in a post online that the food bank at St Joseph’s Old Chapel, Purewell Road, had been broken into overnight Saturday and Sunday.

It said: “It’s a sad, sad day when you find someone has broken into our food bank store building.

“Why? We will not let you steal the joy we bring to others at this time of year. I have spent my Sunday tidying up the mess you left, securing, emptying and fixing to the store I am so disappointed.

“Please don’t accept anything in bulk and if you know who did this please ask them to return it. We are going through CCTV with police.”

Appealing for help, Tracy Blick, who runs the food bank, added: “We need to be able to replace what was stolen ready for school holiday top-up parcels, goodie hampers and Christmas turkey dinner deliveries.

“Sorry to ask but if you are able please drop a little extra into are collection boxes. My heart aches, but we will not let [this] take away from the hope and joy that together we bring to so many in our communities.”

Her post provoked a horrified reaction with one saying: “How absolutely disgusting to rob people in need.”

Another wrote: “How low do you have to be to steal from a charity?”

Tracy set up a fundraising page, and by Monday morning was reporting the response had been overwhelming: “Wow, thank you for your kindness, I am now crying again.”

Supermarkets in the town including Sainsbury’s and Waitrose also rallied round asking customers to donate to the food bank.

Tracy revealed that the thieves had used the food bank’s ‘Can Man’ recycle bins to wheel away the stolen goods adding: “If anyone sees the green bins please let us know.”

A police spokesman said: “We received a report of a break-in that occurred at a church food bank in Chapel Lane in Christchurch.

“It was reported that items of food worth more than £1,000 had been stolen.

“Officers are carrying out detailed enquiries, including a review of CCTV, and our investigation remains ongoing. No arrests have been made at this time.”