Haven House Children’s Hospice has been overwhelmed by the support and generosity of the local community following the break in of its Romford store in August.

The hospice, which provides specialist care for seriously ill children, reported that its retail store had been broken into in the early hours of Sunday 18 August. Although no money was taken, the burglary caused extensive damage to the shop itself forcing it to close, leaving staff devasted.

In the months since, members of the local community have come out in force to support the charity, offering money and time to get the store back on its feet. The hospice has said it is ‘humbled’ and ‘grateful’ for all the support.

Kafeel Khan, Managing Director of Goldex Investments (Essex), read about the incident in his local newspaper. The article spurred the company, a franchise of Costa Coffee, to donate £1,000 to the hospice.

 

Mr Khan, who is a supporter of the hospice and also a member of the charity’s 100 Club, said: “Charity is a big part of our business fundamentals and we strongly believe in giving back to the community. Haven House is a charity close to our heart and we have friends and customers who have been supported by this amazing charity.

 

We were spurred to make a donation to Haven House after reading about the terrible incident at their Romford Store and wanted to make up for their loss of earnings and damage caused.

A crowdfunding page set up by Waltham Abbey councillor Shane Yerrell and Helen Kane, vice chairwoman of the Epping Forest Council, raised £300.

 

Mr Yerrell said: Haven House is a fantastic charity and it was quite heart-breaking to read about the break in. I thought the fundraiser would be a good idea to support the charity because nobody deserves something like that.

 

Head of retail Matthew Lord said: "Our shop is positioned at the heart of the local community, so we have regular supporters who generously make donations and make purchases. We are immensely grateful for the public's incredible efforts to help us get back on our feet.

 

When the break-in happened, we were all left questioning 'Why us?' Why would someone want to take from a children's hospice? We were devastated. We have been overwhelmed by the positive and supportive responses from the local community. There are too many people to thank individually, but please know how humbled and grateful we are for all of your support.