Harrogate-based Hospice charity shop team left 'devastated' by cruel break-in by thieves

Staff and volunteers arrived at the North Street store in Ripon ready to open on the morning of Tuesday 15 April to find the shop front to be vandalised and the inside of the store raided.

The total cost of the incident to the charity is put at an estimated £5,000.

Polly Harvey, Shop Manager at Saint Michael’s Ripon shop said: “To say we are devastated is an understatement.

"The shop was a total mess when my team arrived in the morning.

"The glass was missing from above the door making the shop open to the elements.

"Stock had been thrown everywhere, and numerous locks had been broken on cabinets.

"Worse still, much of our most valuable stock had been taken, including gold jewellery that was locked in a cabinet.

"It will take days to restore the shop and complete repairs which is already expensive.

"We then need to factor in the closure costs from loss of takings from the store, which funds the vital care provided by Saint Michael’s Hospice.”

The charity says that the Ripon shop will be closed for at least two days whilst essential repairs take place.

Costs from repair bills and loss of takings from the closure of the store are estimated to be at least £5,000.

This figure equates to two days of nursing costs for the inpatient unit at the hospice’s Crimple House base.

Saint Michael Hospice’s vital services include caring for people living with terminal illness in their own homes, and at their Hornbeam Park-based Crimple House Hospice.

Specialist bereavement and emotional support service Just ‘B’ is part of their family of services, supporting children, young people, and adults across North Yorkshire.

With ongoing funding struggles, the cost of the break-in will be difficult for Saint Michael’s Hospice to absorb given recent rises in minimum wage and employer national insurance contributions that have increased running costs for the charity astronomically.

Maria Corbin, who volunteers in the Ripon shop every Tuesday morning, has first-hand experience of the exceptional care provided at Saint Michael’s Hospice after her husband, Tony was cared for at the hospice and died following a short battle with cancer in August 2023.

Maria, who is determined to help the Ripon shop to recoup vital costs, even pledging funds herself to help with additional security measures, said: “It's devastating that a shop that helps provide that care for families has been broken into.

"When Tony died, we created a tribute page for him and raised £4,000 for Saint Michael’s and I will happily donate again to help the Ripon shop.”

Talking about her experience of hospice care, Maria said: "My husband, Tony was cared for in the last two weeks of his life and they treated him with love and dignity.

“He had no pain at all. He had the most beautiful death, and that's what he wanted.

"Tony just wanted to slip away and the hospice gave him that.”

“What people don’t understand is that care at the hospice is free at the point of need, and with inadequate government funding, it’s the generosity of the community and charity shops like Ripon that help provide vital income.

“If people can kindly donate cash or items to the shop, then we won't have lost out.”

North Yorkshire Police have been notified of the incident.

If you have any information, please call 101, quoting crime reference number 15052025-0119.

To support Saint Michael’s Hospice recoup its losses from the break-in, donate via Just Giving at: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/riponshopbreakin