A charity shop in the Northern Quarter has issued an appeal after £500 was stolen from a safe following a break-in last night (March 22). The Manchester and Salford RSPCA branch charity shop on Oak Street had its doors kicked in and a window smashed.
Thieves took a large amount of cash from a secure locker in a store room. Scott Sterland, a manager of the shop said: “They got in and smashed a window, they forced their way into the lockers and stolen about £500 in cash.
“A forensic team is coming down, which is very fun, we’re looking a re-uptake in good quality donations and we’re hoping to make some of the money back. It’s taken a bit of momentum out, the wind out the sails.
“It’s just really bad luck. It’s happened a couple of times in our charity shops."
He explained that security would have to be tightened at the store, and lamented the fact that the shop was only just getting back on its feet following the pandemic.
He said: "They got £500, or so, which is a lot for us. It's a week's cash takings. But it's not a lot in the grand scheme of things. We're going to have to ramp up our security which is going to cost a lot of money which the RSPCA frankly does not have.
"We're not struggling, but we've got staff wages to pay, rent in the Northern Quarter is so expensive and like it's all going up. We've finally managed to start hitting our targets after Covid, because Covid was a blow and it's going to be a bit of a pay out. Not a great Wednesday morning.
"Anything would be appreciated, £500 goes a long way for the animals and every penny we get goes to them."
A post shared to the RSPCA Manchester and Salford branch Facebook page asked supporters to bring in donations, or donate to a Just Giving page to help the charity shop recoup its losses.
The post said: "Today started so well but sadly we have bad news. This morning staff came into work to find our beloved NQ charity shop broken into and ransacked. The team are currently waiting for an emergency glazier to come out and police reporting but they should be open for business by lunchtime.
"This comes at a time where we are desperately trying to take in as many rescued animals as possible with unpreceded demand for our spaces. What a complete waste of money that could have gone towards our animals care. The total cost of this will be roughly £1,000 (emergency boarding up, replacing window, items lost, loss of sales etc).
"Or maybe you could do a spring clean and drop your donations off at the shop? I'll be visiting later to show support and buy some bargains to help the shops takings today."
To donate to the shop's Just Giving page, click here.
GMP has been contacted for comment.
