South Gloucestershire | Archive | 2005 | November | 18
From the archive, first published Friday 18th Nov 2005.
THORNBURY schoolchildren who pulled out the stops to support this year's Poppy Appeal have had their efforts thwarted by thieves.
Youngsters at Crossways Junior School were devastated this week after burglars entered the school office and escaped with all the cash they had collected for the Royal British Legion poppy appeal.
"It's hard to imagine how people could stoop so low," said school bursar Julie Mann. "We reckon they got away with around £200. It was in a big red British Legion container. It was clearly marked so they must have known what they were taking.
"It's such a shame because the children had made a tremendous effort for the Poppy Appeal. They had to keep asking for more trays of poppies to sell."
The break-in - believed to have occurred early on Saturday morning - came only hours after children were joined by senior citizens for an Armistice Day service.
Pupils had also been working on a special Thornbury at War history project (see story page 10) and recording the memories of Second World War survivors. As well as the collection cash, the thieves escaped with a flat screen computer monitor and a digital camera.
Royal British Legion Thornbury branch chairman Brian Derry said: "The people who did this are beyond contempt. The children do a magnificent job for us and for them to have their efforts undermined in this way is just disgusting.
"The money they had collected would have gone towards the legion's welfare services, supporting ex-servicemen in need and their dependants."
Thornbury police sector deputy Sgt Simon Ellis said the burglary was "mean and nasty".
"There has recently been a wave of burglaries in and around the town but this has to be one of the most despicable," he said.
"We believe the culprits are a group of local youths and the fact that they have gone so low just fuels our determination to get them. When we do, they will be shown no sympathy."
Sgt Ellis said some arrests had already been made and suspects had been released on police bail pending further inquiries.
"Patrols have been stepped up and I want to reassure the public that we are taking this outbreak of criminality very seriously."
© Newsquest Media Group 2008