A CAFE manager stepped in to encourage the community to help when burglars broke in to a charity shop and took a safe containing £600.

Sally Cosham, 32, who runs the Whistle Stop Café at Tetbury Goods Shed, was dismayed when she heard the thieves had broken in to the town's Longfield shop in Long Street and prised a safe with £600 inside off the wall.

With just five minutes to spare before she had to open up the café, she set up a crowdfunding page and put a jar on the counter to help recover some of the money, which would have paid for almost 24 hours of Hospice at Home care.

“I was early for work and I had a few minutes and that’s all it took me.

"It’s really nice to see the town supporting this but it isn’t just about me, it’s a gift from the town.

"It must have been a bit scary for the people in the shop to go back after what happened. This is everyone in the community showing we’re all behind them.”

The burglary took place overnight on Monday, August 14.

Police believe they found items from the safe on Rodborough Common the day after.

More than £200 has already been raised on the crowdfunding page and £55 has been donated to the pot in the café, which is also part of a charitable trust.

Sally is pleased to see people dipping in to their pockets to help.

“I wanted to replace some of the bad with the good to cheer them up and see if we could get some of the money back.

“It’s just unbelievable that someone would do something like this. It was easier for me to do something about it than try to comprehend why anyone would steal from a charity.

"We have a lot of volunteers who work here also and we understand what it is for people to give up their time.

“I didn’t know much about Longfield before this but I read some of the comments people had written about how they’d looked after members of their family and saying the charity meant a lot to them, it’s taught me more about what they do.”

Every year, Minchinhampton-based Longfield provides free support and care to more than 900 people across Gloucestershire who have life limiting illnesses.

The services include nursing care that allows people to die in their own homes, creative support from art therapy to reflexology, pain management and bereavement counselling.

Sally and her family have only lived in Tetbury for two years but she loves the community and the way they’ve shown their support for the Longfield shop.

“Tetbury is a nice place. It feels good to see so many people contributing to make this happen.”

Visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/sally-cosham to donate.