KIND hearted Penarthians have rallied round to donate nearly £1,000 to children’s charity Ty Hafan after hearing about the “heartless and shameful” burglary of the Penarth shop.

Ty Hafan said it had been “overwhelmed” by the generosity of the public after a flood of donations to the charity that supports life limited children.

The charity has so far received nearly £1,000 in donations from a number of individuals, including a former Penarth man donating £500, a local businessman donating £350 and a youngster donating £10.

The Stanwell Road charity shop was broken into sometime between 5.10pm on Saturday, February 8, and 8.30am on Monday, February 10.

The former Penarth man that donated £500, who now lives abroad, wrote to the Penarth Times after reading about the “heartless and shameful” theft online, offering to cover the losses of the break-in himself.

“I was saddened to hear that anyone could commit such a callous crime against a children's charity, so felt compelled to help put a positive spin on the situation to reinforce the good work done by the folks at Ty Hafan,” he said.

“I sincerely hope that anyone with information comes forward to make sure that not only justice is served but ultimately to ensure that such a disgusting crime is not repeated.”

Detective Constable Rachel Knowles of Barry CID described the burglary as “an appalling incident targeting a charity which supports very sick children” and appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

Angela Church, Ty Hafan’s Penarth shop manager, said that staff had been “really shocked and upset” by the burglary and that for someone to steal over £500 was “heart-breaking”.

“We are always incredibly grateful to the public for their donations and are equally thankful to our committed volunteers for their support,” she said.

“Incidents like these have a knock on effect on our donors, volunteers and ultimately the vital services we provide to children and their families.

“£562 is the equivalent to around 28 hours of specialist care for life-limited children and we will be incurring additional costs for upgraded security measures. We hope the police are successful in their appeal and we will be providing them with as much assistance as we can.”

She added that staff had been boosted by the donations from kind-hearted members of the public.

“We have been incredibly overwhelmed by the public’s generosity,” she said.

“We are so grateful to the public for their support and it has been really wonderful to see so many warm-hearted people coming in and making donations. One of our volunteers tweeted about the theft and his friend in Birmingham saw it and will be sending a cheque to the hospice. One of our younger volunteers has also said she’ll be organising a fundraiser at Barry College. It is so lovely to see how everyone has rallied round to help Ty Hafan – we’d like to thank everyone for their kindness and support.”

Anyone with any information about the burglary is asked to contact Barry CID on 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 and quote reference 1400042358.

To make a donation towards Ty Hafan visit www.tyhafan.org or call 0292 2053 2199.