COMMUNITY spirit has shone through in the face of a “despicable crime", which saw cold-hearted thieves raid a charity’s roof for lead, causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage.

Primrose Hospice staff were left devastated after thieves tore up a section of their roof on St Godwald’s Road, Bromsgrove, sometime after 6pm on January 2.

The hospice, which supports patients with life-limiting illnesses across Redditch and north Worcestershire, has already paid for emergency repairs to avoid water damage.

It needed to stump up hundreds of pounds more for a permanent fix, and would have been forced to dip into money raised by fundraisers to cover the costs.

But the community has rallied to their aid with generous members from Bromsgrove Rotary Club donating £150 to cover the full repair costs.

Secretary Ron Peace said: “Members are upset and disgusted that criminals should target the Primrose Hospice in this way, which would mean that charitable funds intended for the support of patients facing end of life illnesses would need to be diverted to pay for the roof repairs.

“We feel moved to support the staff and volunteers at the hospice, who deliver such caring and outstanding service to patients and their families throughout the year, so that the impact of this despicable crime may be lessened.”

Hospice staff have been left touched by the generous donation.

Fundraising manager Emma Williams said: “We were left devastated after learning that our building was damaged by thieves who stole lead from the roof.

“The hospice has been targeted numerous times over the past 12 months by criminals.

“Members of the local community have once again come to our aid to help and support us and this donation from the Bromsgrove Rotary Club really does mean the world to us.”

Angelique Dalton, head of resources at the hospice, added: “We raise funds so that people can come to the hospice to receive care, not to carry out repairs when someone steals like this.

“It is quite a shock and very sad when we are trying to do some good work here.

“The fact that somebody would do that is very upsetting.”

Police are appealing for information on the incident and a second theft of lead from neighbouring Bromsgrove Rugby Club which took place the previous night.

The offenders who stole from the rugby club have been described as three males but no sightings were seen at Primrose.

Anyone with information can call police on 101 quoting 0128s of January 2 (Rugby Club) or 0168s of January 3 (Primrose Hospice).