A man who built up his own handyman and gardening business after being made redundant during the Covid-19 pandemic has been halted in his endeavours by a “total scumbag” thief.
The raider struck in the early hours of New Year’s Eve, breaking into Phil Hardy’s van and stealing the entire contents, including a collection of specialist tools that Phil had built up cost that cost thousands of pounds.
Now his sister, Suzie Hardy, has launched a GoFundMe page to try to raise enough cash to get her brother going again. She said: “My brother’s the kind of person who would never ask for help himself, which is why I’m doing this on his behalf.
“He’s a proud and independent guy, but right now, he’s struggling. Your support, no matter how small, wouldn’t just help him replace his tools, it would remind him that he’s not alone and that people care about him and what he’s built.”
Suzie said: “Without these tools, Phil simply can’t work or make a living. On top of the financial strain and anxiety of how he’s going to pay the bills, it’s been incredibly hard for him emotionally.
“He’s heartbroken to be letting down his regular customers, many of whom are elderly or part of local churches and community groups. Some of the work he does for them, he doesn’t even charge for, because he genuinely cares about giving back.”
Phil is more reliant on power tools than perhaps other gardeners are as he has had back surgery and cannot bend very well. Suzie said: “While it’ll take a lot more to replace everything, we’re hoping to raise about £1,500 which we hope is enough to start to replace the most essential ones—a Kombi unit, a strimmer, a leaf blower and vacuum, and a hedge trimmer—even if it’s second-hand equipment, so he can get back on his feet and start earning again, while rebuilding his collection over time.”
Suzie said Phil seized an opportunity after redundancy, needing an income for himself and also then his son, Tom, to realise the dream of working for himself. “Starting small as a handyman business, they worked incredibly hard, often doing low-cost jobs for friends and neighbours, gradually building up skills, tools and a reputation as a successful dad and son local gardening business,” she said.
“Unfortunately, in the early hours of December 31, a total scumbag stole his entire collection of specialist gardening tools from his van, parked in the tenfoot behind his house. You can’t believe the brass neck of the culprit – a neighbour’s CCTV has caught him doing five trips with the tools to stockpile them in a different street.
“Then we think he had the gall to call what we think is a taxi to pick him up with it all. We’re not sure if the driver on the CCTV is connected or an unsuspecting regular taxi driver – it does look like a taxi – and you’ve got to be asking questions about that, someone with a load of tools wanting picking up at 3am.”
Suzie said: “The police believe this may be linked to a string of thefts in the area, but sadly, there’s little chance of recovering what was taken.”
The GoFundMe page was set up with a £1,600 appeal target. More than £1,000 has so far been raised, at the time of publishing.
A spokesperson for Humberside Police said: “Officers are conducting lines of enquiry after we received reports of a theft on Monday 30 December. It is reported that approximately £15,000 worth of power tools were taken from a van on Wolfreton Road in Willerby overnight between 6pm, and 9am on Tuesday 31 December.
“Anybody who may have any information that may assist officers with lines of enquiry, including CCTV or dashcam footage can contact us on our non-emergency number 101 quoting 24*184398.”
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