Farleigh Hospice staff 'gutted' after Maldon warehouse break-in

Thieves stole £1,000 from the safe at the Farleigh Hospice warehouse.

Charity staff say they are "devastated" after thieves broke into their warehouse, stealing cash and causing thousands of pounds of damage.

Farleigh Hospice's Clearance Warehouse in Maldon, Essex, was broken into on Monday morning.

Debbie de Boltz, fundraising manager for the charity, said £1,000 was taken from a safe, and repairs to the front door would cost £6,000.

"We're utterly gutted," Ms de Boltz told the BBC.

The front door to the warehouse is set to cost £6,000 to be replaced.

Debbie de Boltz, fundraising manager for Farleigh Hospice, said staff and volunteers were "utterly gutted"

Thieves cut the lock on the entrance gates at the warehouse, on the Wycke Hill business park, before forcing the front door open .

The warehouse was closed on Monday but re-opened on Tuesday.

"It would be awful for any business," said Ms de Boltz, "but it's more abhorrent that it's been done to a charity where we raise money totally to serve our local community."

Farleigh Hospice, which costs £21,000 to run every day, has charity shops across mid Essex but sells larger items from its Maldon warehouse.

The thieves also damaged the door to the warehouse's office, which has now been replaced.

The warehouse is filled with thousands of items, many of which are too large for Farleigh Hospice's charity shops across Essex.

Ms de Boltz paid tribute to the charity's staff and volunteers.

"They're absolutely devastated by this, but their first thought was 1we're going to make that back1," Ms de Boltz told the BBC.

"We are resilient - we will come back from this. Farleigh is not going to give up on its local community."

Essex Police has appealed for anyone with information to come forward, quoting incident number 211.

The break-in comes two weeks after hundreds of pounds were stolen from a charity shop in Coggeshall.

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