Just a few days before a new family entertainment centre opens at Silverdale, thieves have struck the voluntary organisation behind the new project.
Two men stole a teak bookcase from outside the home of the founder of the new centre, Sandy Huyton, at the rear of Albany Street, Douglas, at about 5.50pm on Tuesday. The bookcase was left for just two minutes outside the house and a witness saw two men carrying it away. Police are investigating.
Sandy said: ‘I cannot believe it. We left the bookcase in the lane and went to the front to drive the van around to collect the it, and the bookcase was gone. It’s not highly valuable, but it was a lovely piece of furniture and perfect for the children’s books to be displayed at the Dolittle’s Centre.
‘It was a heavy piece of furniture and they couldn’t have taken it very far.’
Dolittle’s Animal Therapy Centre opens at Cregg Mill in Silverdale on Saturday, featuring small animals such as guinea pigs, rabbits and birds as well as a Teddy Bear Orphanage. A special event will be held there on Sunday in aid of the 10-year-old Mark Lalor-Smith, who was seriously injured in a car crash in Turkey in May.
Proceeds from the Centre will be used to fund Sandy’s animal therapy work for the elderly, infirmed and special needs children.