The owners of the Wayfarer cafe in Osmaston had a bad start to 2025 after being alerted that a brazen thief had broken into their shop and stolen two charity collection boxes.
The thief broke through a window at the rear of the Ostmaston Road cafe at around 11.30pm on December 31, 2024, and rummaged through the till and cupboards before leaving with two nearly empty charity collection boxes.
The cafe’s owner, Tracey Morrell, has been running it for the past 15 years and said that nothing like this had ever happened before. She said: “I just find it a bit scary, really, that they were in there rooting about. He would have gone past where the residents access the flat above the cafe to get in.
“We have checked all the CCTV, and you can see him going through the till, and then he just goes straight to the charity boxes. He didn’t touch anything else. I just find it really distressing that he knew what he was doing.”
The cafe owner was perplexed as to why the thief didn’t steal the loose £5 in change from the till or any food and drink in the cafe.
Tracey, who has not reported the incident to police, said: “It’s just strange. I know personally there isn’t much in the boxes. I always empty them. It’s the fact they took them not knowing if there was any money in there.
“We do quite a lot for charity so it’s upsetting, and I am just very confused, as you wouldn’t keep loads of money in a cafe that’s been shut for ten days. The community have been brilliant. People have been checking their CCTV for me, and loads of people have shared the post on Facebook to help us identify the person who did this.
“I’m all for charities, and it’s just upsetting that they took this. We have just recently had to have the side window repaired after someone put a big hole in it with a screwdriver. I don’t think much can be done to help apart from getting more CCTV up.”
The cafe’s boxes collected money for Hannah’s Hope, a charity that provides respite to teenagers with cancer, and Gears of Goodwill, a charity that helps feed the homeless in Derby.