Charity garden equipment stolen

THIEVES have twice stolen thousands of pounds of equipment from a garden which helps adults suffering from mental illnesses. They broke into Bridewell Organic Garden stealing a generator, and just weeks later made off with four lawn mowers and two strimmers.
Managers said it would cost the charity more than £5,000 to replace the garden equipment and put huge pressure on the organisation’s finances and insurance premiums.
Trustee Mary Elford urged people not to buy any cheap garden equipment if they were suspicious about where it had come from.
The walled garden and five-acre vineyard at Wilcote was founded in 1994, and gardeners grow cottage plants, vegetables and fruit on the land.
It also provides workshops on horticulture, bee keeping, woodwork and blacksmithing, and aims to improve the emotional well-being of adults who have suffered all sorts of mental illness.
Garden manager, Ralph Raistrick, said: “It happened a couple of years ago too, it’s very disappointing. We don’t have huge resources. We are worried it will put our insurance claims up. It’s quite demoralising.”
Mr Raistrick said the garden had been without a generator, used by the resident blacksmith, and lawn mowers for several weeks now.
He said: “The garden looks quite ragged.
“We were working on a beautiful metal tree sculpture, and that has had to be stopped because we need the generator to keep working on it.
“It’s a bit of a blow, because we have three open days this summer, and we had hoped to show it off a bit.”
Thieves stole the generator from a plinth in the garden, and Mr Raistrick believed they wheeled it to their getaway vehicle on a trolley, which he later found in the car park.
About five weeks later, they used angle grinders to open a shipping container, secured with a £200 lock, lifting lawn mowers and strimmers over the 6ft-garden wall with the help of a plastic garden chair.
Mrs Elford said: “We want to make people aware that theft in the countryside is a huge problem, and for a very small voluntary organisation, with limited funds, these kinds of losses are devastating.
“It’s about making people aware that if they are offered cheap lawnmowers, they might come from somewhere like Bridewell.”
Police spokesman Danny Donovan confirmed the first theft took place between May 10 and 12, and the second between June 20 and 21.
He said officers were keeping an eye out for the equipment at sales, scrapyards, and on the Internet, but no arrests had so far been made.
Anyone with information about the theft should contact police, on 08458 505505, or Crimestoppers, on 0800 555111

(Reproduced from The Oxford Times, 20th July 2010)

Gardien Tip: Ensure that all property of any value is permanently marked with the post code and ID to aid retrieval. Also one could consider use of a Garden floodlight motion detector with digital camera and video - these units look as though they are simply a security light but they will discreetly record any activity which triggers them within range.