Lead thieves target St Faith's Church in Havant
LEAD thieves have targeted a church building - stripping canopies of metal and causing hundreds of pounds of damage.
The thefts happened over the last 10 days at The Pallant Centre, a community building run by St Faith’s Church in Havant.
The centre is a charity, which operates on tight finances and relies on a large team of volunteers to host many different community groups.
A post on its Facebook page said: ‘We are saddened to report to our friends and the good people of Havant that our building has twice been vandalised along with the theft of roofing materials in recent days.
‘Desperate times for some people mean desperate measures and our hearts absolutely go out to those that are struggling to the point they might need to resort to such unkind acts.
‘However, the materials they have removed will earn them pennies in scrap metal. Literally pennies. The damage they have done though will cost us hundreds of pounds to put right.’
The church has set up a fundraiser and Canon Tom Kennar, the rector of St Faith’s, said he was pleased to see the community coming together to raise the money to repair the damage.
He said the fundraiser has already raised enough to pay for work once lockdown is over and he particularly thanked Ella Razzell who baked fudge and raffled it off through her Facebook page Razella Fudge, raising more than £100.
Mr Kennar said: ‘The nice thing, however, has been the outpouring of support from the community, including the lovely Ella Razzell, who immediately raffled some of her home-made fudge to pay for repairs, and raised £106 in a few minutes from lots of lovely concerned donors. So, every cloud has a silver lining!’
Ella added: ‘It’s so lovely to see people coming together and helping in this uncertain time.’
Mr Kennar said the incidents have been reported to Havant police and they are reviewing CCTV.
To donate go to stfaith.com/donations and click 'big build'.