Lights out on charity collection?
Gary Ormiston outside his house
A KIRKCALDY family which has collected thousands of pounds for charity over the past five years is considering hanging up its fundraising Christmas lights for good after callous thieves stole their collection box.
Gary and Lorraine Ormiston have decorated their detached house in Robert Philp Road in huge amounts of festive lights and illuminated garden decorations to raise money for different charities over the years.
People came from miles around to see their stunning display, many leaving a donation in the charity box attached to a lamp-post at the end of the garden.
However they were left stunned and sickened when heartless thieves struck on Christmas Eve while they were out for a family meal with children Katie (9), Sophie (7) and Ben (5).
Meal
Gary explained: “We had a lovely meal and when we came back to the house, I immediately noticed that the box at the end of the garden was not there.
“It really put a dampener on our Christmas to think that someone could have been so rotten as to steal a box containing money for the children’s ward at Victoria Hospital.
“This is a quiet cul-de-sac and they must have come round especially to steal the box because they would have had to cut it off with strong cutters.
“After we reported the theft a neighbour came round and said he had seen a car driving past the day before and someone getting out and looking around, so that may have been the culprits, but we don’t know for sure.
“We were hoping to give the hospital £500 for a new specialist bed they needed, and I reckon there was between £80 to £100 in the box.
Disgusted
“We are still giving them £414 which had been raised up until then, but after the theft we were so disgusted that we didn’t bother putting the lights back on again.
“We have been left so scunnered that I don’t even know if we’ll bother putting the lights up again next year.”
Gary (48) and Lorraine (39) started up their collections raising money for Cancer Research after Lorraine was diagnosed with breast cancer.
They have also raised funds for the Children’s Hospice Association of Scotland and the Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh.
A police spokesman said their enquiries were continuing and asked anyone who had seen anything suspicious to contact them.
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Weather for Kirkcaldy
Sunday 19 May 2013
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 9 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
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