Burglars ransack Samaritans charity shop in Wealdstone

The Samaritans charity shop, in High Street, was ransacked at the weekend following a successful book sale day on Saturday.

Shop spokesman David Proudfoot said that money from the sale was stolen along with a laptop and a camera. The shop was also left vandalised.

He said: “We held a book sale on Saturday and all the money has gone from that. There was a lot of damage to clothes and there was generally a lot of mess made.

“Our biggest worry was that a laptop and camera was stolen, which had been acquired fairly recently as gifts to help us sell items on eBay.

“This shop is an important source of income for the charity and this is gratuitous damage and violence.

“It’s a tragedy that volunteers, many who are elderly, had to go through this and it is through the efforts of the shop manager and the volunteers that we opened yesterday.

“We had a really good day with the book sale and then they created havoc.”

Mr Proudfoot added the charity relies solely on donations and does not buy in products to re-sell.

He added: “Both the shop and the branch are staffed by volunteers and we rely almost exclusively on income from the shop to operate and maintain the Branch at 44 Station Road, in Harrow.

“What we really need now is some new donations to make up for what we lost.

“We urgently need the support of the community to donate good quality clothing, household items and bric-a-brac so that we can continue to support the service provided by Harrow Samaritans.”

Will Goddard, spokesman at Harrow Police, confirmed the burglary took place between 4pm on Saturday and 11am on Sunday.

He said: “A quantity of cash was taken, a laptop and a digital camera.

"It was reported by the chairman of the shop. There was damage to the front door where the lower glass panel was broken. Enquiries are being made and CCTV footage is being checked.”

To donate to the shop drop into 103 High Street between 10am and 4pm weekdays and Saturdays.