Make at Aldingbourne praises "incredible" community support after £2,000 stolen from Portsmouth charity venue

As previously reported, between the night of Saturday, April 20 and the following morning, charity shop and cafe MAKE at Aldingbourne Enterprise in Fratton was targeted by theives - with the team behind the venue stuck by “devastation.” Hampshire police are investigating the shocking incident. MAKE is run by adults with learning disabilities and autism, which helps enable them to “lead independent lives and gain employment within the community.” Money raised through shop sales and the cafe is used to support training and development as well as funding community events and everyday running costs.

Since news broke of the theft, a MAKE volunteer has set up JustGiving page to support the charity - which, at time of writing, has raised more than £900.

MAKE at Aldingbourne Enterprise manager Sarah Mita said: “We’re a safe space for everybody in the community and somebody has violated that space. It really upset me and it has upset the team. They feel violated. It’s not a nice feeling to know that someone came in for something specifically and left with it - and would do that to a charity. People do steal from the charity shop occassionally, but this is the first time that we have actually been broken into.

“The public have been absolutely amazing. We have had letters of condolence, people coming in to have a cup of tea because they saw it online and had never been here before - the support from the community has been absolutely incredible. Out of a very sad thing that has happened, it’s made us so humbled to see how loved the place is by everybody. It’s overwhelming. Thank you to everybody for their well-wishes and their support.”

According to Sarah, there was no CCTV in the area to capture what happened when the front door was broken and the perpetrator entered, but the shop is urging people with any information to come forward.

A spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said: “At some time overnight between Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 21 offender/s forced entry to MAKE at Aldingbourne Enterprise, Cornwall Road, Portsmouth. Once inside they took a safe containing around £2000. Investigations are ongoing.”

You can donate to the fundraiser here.