A CHARITY has issued a plea to the callous thief who stole £600: Give us our money back.
The money for the RNLI was in an envelope clearly marked as containing charity funds, which was on the front passenger seat of an unlocked van when the opportunistic criminal struck.
The sum had been donated in lieu of gifts by guests at a birthday party party held at the weekend to celebrate the 60th birthday of Port St Mary Lifeboat’s second coxswain Mick Kneale.
He said if the person who took it wanted to give it back anonymously they could do so.
‘They can chuck it through the lifeboat letterbox,’ he said. ‘If you get a prick of conscience about you just chuck it back. We are not vindictive, some people are poverty stricken, but there are ways of going about things. If they want help they should ask.’
The cash was taken from Mr Kneale’s Peugeot Expert van as he left it parked outside the boat house in Lime Street as he worked on Monday morning.
‘It’s my own fault for leaving it there, I’m too honest,’ said Mr Kneale. ‘Even at 60 I’m too much of a local fella.
‘The C5 size envelope the money was in was clearly marked “RNLI donation”.’
When he’d finished unloading the van he returned to the front to find the money gone. He searched high and low for the envelope, even hunting through the rubbish, but was unable to find it. He went home to check but knew deep down that it had been stolen from the van.
He rang the police, who knocked on doors in the village but nobody had seen anything out of the ordinary.
‘Of course it isn’t out of the ordinary to see someone wandering past the boat house,’ said Mr Kneale, who blames himself. ‘I feel like a complete banana. It’s not my fault it’s been taken but it’s my fault for allowing the opportunity.’
Mr Kneale said those guests who had donated the money had been supportive. ‘Some people have offered to replace their donation and I think we might hold a fundraiser,’ he said.
The cash, £540 in mixed denomination notes, together with a cheque for £60 made payable to The RNLI, was taken between 9.30am and 11.30am on Monday.
Constable Adrian Brooks said: ‘Any incident of this kind is not acceptable. However, this particular matter is made worse by the fact that the money was destined for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to help them in their vital and often dangerous work.
‘The money was donated by numerous members of the local community who gave it in good faith with the intention of helping the RNLI, they did not donate the money to line the pockets of a thief.’
Anybody with any information should contact Port Erin police station on 832222.