June 26, 2015 12.04 pm This story is over 105 months old

Lincoln charity shop suffers wave of thefts including Nepal donations

Several thefts: The manager of a Lincoln charity shop has spoken of her frustration at a recent spate of premeditated thefts from the store.
Photo: Stefan Pidluznyj for The Lincolnite

The manager of a Lincoln charity shop has spoken of her frustration at a recent spate of premeditated thefts from the store.

Oxfam in the city centre has been persistently targeted by thieves, with the latest incident seeing a collection tin for survivors of the Nepal earthquake being stolen between 4.30pm and 5pm on June 24.

The tin was believed to have £20-30 inside, which Oxfam have estimated could have supplied 288 people with safe drinking water.

Store manager Jo Bass. Photo: Stefan Pidluznyj for The Lincolnite

Store manager Jo Bass. Photo: Stefan Pidluznyj for The Lincolnite

Manager Jo Bass said: “There have been at least five other thefts at the shop over the past week which is extremely frustrating.

“Someone has stolen fair trade chocolate worth another £30 and one of our volunteers has stopped another person stealing a pair of trousers from the shop, and was verbally abused in the process.

“The collection tin theft was obviously pre-planned as they waited for the volunteers to close the shop for the day. They probably didn’t think about what they were doing but people in Lincoln had generously donated that money to help the survivors of the earthquake in Nepal.

“We’re currently looking for volunteers but it’s so disheartening for everyone in our shop team to be forever facing these kind of problems when all we want to do is play our part in Oxfam’s work.”

Anyone with information should contact Lincolnshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 231 of June 25.

Alternatively, people can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.