Charity, Ferndown | Posted on December 19th, 2024 | return to news
Book theft leads to ‘Christmas miracle’ in Ferndown
A Christmas grinch stole books meant for charity, but the local community rallied round to make a huge donation to Ferndown Plus.
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An adult social care centre has experienced a “Christmas miracle” after the Ferndown community rallied together and donated lots of books to replace 20 stolen from the centre’s charity book sale stand.
For 14 years, the Day Service on Pennys Walk has operated a charity book stand, where books donated by the public are left for sale outside during the day. Money made from any sales, which relies on an ‘honesty box’ and donations from passersby, goes to charities chosen by workers at Ferndown Plus.
But colleagues were left heartbroken on 11 November when administrative officer Carol Jones went to bring in the stand at the end of the day and discovered that one or more grinches had taken 20 Christmas-themed books without leaving any payment.
Manager Sue Thorne said: “As a team, we really enjoy raising money for charities and local organisations – it’s rewarding and it’s usually a charity close to our hearts.
“As we’re nearing the festive period, we put out all the books that are Christmas-themed, but unfortunately, as quickly as we put them out, almost all were taken without any donation.
“We were so upset that someone would take so many books and give nothing.”
Thorne posted a message on a Facebook community group to alert neighbours to the theft. To her great surprise and joy, supporters rallied around and donated a deluge of new books – more than enough to replace those taken.
She added: “As soon the word got out to the local community about what had happened, donations of books came flooding in.
“We had so many we were even able to donate some to the local Royal British Legion. We’d like to thank everyone for their donations and kind words.”
So far, the centre has raised £1,567 this year and made 33 charity donations.
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