Wolverhampton charity's equipment stolen as thieves target chairman's van
A community charity in Wolverhampton has had its generators stolen after the chairman's van was broken into.
Shaun Walmsley, the chairman of Tettenhall Round Table, had his van broken into while it was parked at the Oddfellows pub in Compton, Wolverhampton, where his work equipment was stolen, including drills, lights, batteries, and even his radio.
The dramatic photos show the side door of the Mercedes van almost clawed off .
Shiv Passap, Secretary of Tettenhall Round Table said: "The chairman is a gas engineer and so they stole his Testo gas analyser, Makita SDS drills, a Dewalt drill and two generators that we used to power up a Christmas sleigh recently and also use at other events.
"It is disappointing that this has happened to us, as we have to replace everything and the cost is around £5,000 for the chairman's tools, and then at least £1000 for the generators.
"We are all about the community and doing work for those in need. The generators were just used for our annual Halloween and Christmas sleigh run.
"Every year we do one three Christmas sleigh runs, where we go around the streets in Tettenhall with a Santa, the sleigh is lit up and obviously powered by the generators, and the charity collections are a bonus, there best feeling is putting smiles on people's faces as Santa on his sleigh goes by, and it brings a community Christmas feeling to everyone."
Tettenhall Round Table, a registered charity, have reported the theft to the police and are hoping to recover the goods, otherwise they said it will have to be replaced either through insurance, or from their own pockets.
The stolen goods are said to be worth around £6,000.
The group has contacted the Oddfellows pub for CCTV footage, and spoken with the police, but Shiv said he doesn't think anything will come of it.
He added: "We spoke with Oddfellows who do have CCTV in that direction, but they said they can't see anything, and so it's just left with the police, but we understand they have other things they're concerned with and so we will see what happens."
The theft took place at the car park of the Oddfellows pub on Tuesday, between 8.30pm and 9.30pm.
Comments on the Facebook page suggest that it was one of multiple thefts on the night where tools were stolen from vans.
West Midlands Police have been contacted for a comment.
Anyone with information about the thefts can contact the police and use the crime number: 408120122
