Dismay as thieves ransack Wolverhampton youth club and food bank
The distraught manager of a Wolverhampton community centre has warned other charities after thieves ransacked her food bank and youth club.
Gail Reynolds discovered the burglary when she opened the Stratton Street Methodist Church community centre, Nine Elms Road, on Tuesday morning.
Thieves targeted the centre's popular youth club making away with more than £3,000 worth of goods and some cash.
The break-in hurts more as Gail believes someone who had visited the food bank for help had scoped out the premises for the burglary.
She told the Express & Star: "We are all nervous now, and want to warn other food banks and community centres that this can happen to anyone.
"We have an open door policy, especially since we have been a warm place for those in need with the cost of living crisis, and know that 99.9 per cent of people who come are in genuine need but there the 0.01 per cent who are the criminal element.
"We need to be on the guard that there maybe unsavoury characters who attend for criminal reasons. Please ensure all security measures are in place regarding property but most importantly staff and service user safety."
She added: "However, this community centre has been going for 60 years and this will not stop us doing what we do which is helping people in need."
Gail added: "Youth club equipment had been stolen including consoles and sports kit. Laptops and a projector were taken and they even had the audacity to rip the CCTV hard drive out.
"Money had been taken from the Community shop where we keep a float and the office. It was upsetting to get in and see the place ransacked. We are not funded by the council or government and rely on donations so every penny counts."
Gail shot a video of her walking around the ransacked centre and posted it on Facebook.
Police forensic experts are combing the centre for clues who carried out the burglary which local CCTV has shown took place around 10pm on Monday night.
Gail added: "All year round we deliver services for our community to try and make a difference and then some low life with no sense of morality comes into to destroy, but we will not let them win."
A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "We are investigating a burglary at Stratton Street Methodist Church, in Stratton Street, Wolverhampton.
"We were called shortly before 9am on Tuesday. Property has been taken. People with information should contact us via Live Chat on our website or by ringing 101 quoting crime number 20/159495/23."
