'We won't be beaten' says the founder of a Hartlepool charity whose shop was raided

The Extra Mile shop in the Middleton Grange Shopping Centre has been inundated with goodwill messages, cards, donations and offers of support.

They have poured in ever since a brazen thief stole £350 from a Hartlepool charity shop and made his getaway on a mobility scooter which he also stole from the store, say staff.

Police are investigating the theft which is thought to have happened after staff left for the evening on Saturday, August 29 at around 5pm.

An iPhone was missing, and a charity tub was ripped from the desk it was nailed to. The tub’s £200 contents were gone.

So was £20 of the shop’s proceeds and £40 entry money which people had paid to enter the Three Peaks Challenge which the charity was running.

The thief also took a communication radio and when staff checked throughout the shop, they were amazed to find a £1,000 gold coloured mobility scooter was also missing.

The Extra Mile is a shop run by the Hartlepool charity Miles for Men whose founder Micky Day said: “It has been a kick in the teeth but it is heartwarming the way the people of Hartlepool have responded.

"People are giving cash donations. They are leaving messages asking us what we need and asking if there is anything they can do to help. They are saying they want to help us because we have done so much to help others.

"People are living cards with messages saying ‘don’t give up. Keep doing what you are doing’. The people have spurred us on and we won’t give up.

"We class ourselves as the town’s charity. This has knocked us and these are difficult enough times for us all anyway but the response from the public has been amazing.”

Cleveland Police has appealed for anyone with information or footage which could help to contact Cleveland Police via the 101 number. Please quote Event 142556.

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