Staff and volunteers at a Blackheath charity shop were left devastated after their store was broken into in the early hours of Monday morning.

The Acorns Children’s Hospice shop on Blackheath High street had a glass panel in its door smashed to gain entry, just after 2am, with intruders entering the store and ransacking the sales floor before attempting to steal an empty till.

The team at the branch worked through the morning to get the store reopened, so they can begin trading to raise vital funds for the charity, which provides care and support for life-limited children and their families across the borough. Acorns Chief Executive Toby Porter said: 

“We were shocked and deeply saddened to discover thieves had broken into our shop in Blackheath overnight causing significant damage.

“Our shops are a vital source of income in funding our lifeline care and support for some of the most vulnerable children and families in our community.

“At a time when coronavirus has put huge pressure on the charity sector, it is shocking to think that someone could have deliberately targeted and damaged a shop raising funds for our children’s hospice care.

“Our staff and volunteers at the Blackheath shop are showing incredible resilience and are working hard to re-open the store as soon as possible.”

A raft of support emerged on social media, with members of the public coming out in support of the charity. Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, called the act ‘utterly disgraceful’, denouncing the thieves for attempting to steal from sick children.

What sort of person does this to what is one of our region's most treasured charities? Stealing from sick children. Utterly disgraceful. https://t.co/2RbZIrJZfj

— Andy Street (@andy4wm) October 5, 2020

Anyone with information is asked to contact West Midlands Police on 101, quoting log 20/SW/240915X/20 of 5th October.