A charity is appealing for help after it had £17,000 of new equipment stolen by thieves.
The Shaw Trust's Basingstoke Horticultural Project is urging businesses and organisations to help provide secure storage for its gardening equipment.
Thieves struck at the charity's Elizabeth Road allotment premises, South Ham on Monday August 16.
The trust's general manager of community services, John Sole, said: “This was not an opportunistic thief.
“Our premises are fenced and the equipment is stored in metal storage units. The thieves knew the equipment was there and used bolt-cutters to enter the site, and then used industrial cutting equipment to cut through the storage unit in order to take equipment ranging from hand- held hedge cutters and strimmers to an expensive wood chipper.”
“The team here is very upset by the theft and we want to get them back on track as quickly as possible.”
The Trust wants to find secure storage in the future. Trust spokesperson, Katie Creagh-Barry said that they have enough equipment temporarily and will eventually get the equipment back on insurance.
Shaw Trust Horticulture Project provides training and employment to disabled and disadvantaged people in grounds maintenance and landscaping. The Trust provides services to housing assoications, parks and domestic homes. The proceeds are then given back to the charity.
The loss of the new equipment has not only affected morale at the Project but also meant that Shaw Trust has had to delay the provision of garden maintenance to some of its regular customers.
One customer who was expecting her patio to be completed on Tuesday said “how can people do this to a charity which supports people with disabilities?”
“The people who train on the site were very upset and incidents such as this can have an adverse effect on those with mental health conditions.”
And Mr Sole added: “As a charity, our focus is on supporting people back into employment. We invest in products and equipment to enable us to do that and it would seem we now need to find a building or location with permanent lock-up facilities.
“We can’t risk losing our equipment again and I would be extremely grateful if any business or individual in the local area feels they can help with such a facility - even if just in the short-term - it would help tremendously.
Visit www.shaw-trust.org.uk/basingstoke for more information.
