Thieves steal charity prizes from lockup

A volunteer discovered the crime on June 14 when they went to pick up equipment for the Sompting Festival.

The lockup belonging to Lancing and Sompting Lions was raided earlier this month, when thieves made off with goods worth around £300.

Fundraising volunteer Sandy Redhead made the discovery.

“I was really upset and annoyed,” she said.

“I went down there to pick up some equipment and suddenly thought ‘what’s that empty box doing there?’

“Then I realised what had been in there, it was all the prizes I had squirrelled away for our auction.

“It’s such a shame. The goods would have raised money for the hospice and other charities and now it has been taken away from us.

“Fundraising is hard to do at this moment in time and I guess it juts sort of spoils my faith in human nature.”

President of Lancing and Sompting Lions Yvonne Prosser said the fundraising auction had been cancelled.

“The only thing they left was a box of chocolates,” she said.

“It’s a setback.

“The trouble is, the people who did it are possibly from some of the families we are trying to help.

“We are disappointed and angry at the fact that people would do this.

“We work hard and we are not doing it for fun.

“We are raising money.”

The prizes were being saved for a Pamperganza event panned for November.

“It was so successful last year, we were doing it again,” said Yvonne.

The Lions have two charity shops in Lancing, one selling furniture, the other selling clothes and bric-a-brac.

A spokesman for Sussex Police confirmed that police had been informed of a burglary of a garage in Lancing, on June 14 at 4.16pm.

“A quantity of prizes including a picnic hamper had been stolen,” she said.

“It is believed the burglary had happened within the last two weeks but had only just been discovered.”

Anyone who saw anything suspicious is asked to call police on 101 quoting serial 1098 of 14/6.