THE people of Alton have come up trumps by chipping in to more than replace donations for HomeStart Wey-Water, collected in charity pots on the bar of The George but which were stolen during a burglary at the pub.

Having flagged up the loss on social media, landlady Susannah Stredder said local folk stepped in to raise an incredible £960 in just 24 hours.

It was a level of generosity that astounded Susannah and her team, and HomeStart Wey-Water trustee Ann Foulkes, who had called on the pubs before Christmas to help the charity in their race against the clock to achieve necessary match funding of £10,000 before the end of January.

The break-in, which took place while Susannah and her business partner were treating their team “to a well-deserved evening off”, took place between 6.30pm and 10pm on January 2.

Susannah said: “The first indication that something wasn’t right was the discovery of the till on the floor after having its wires broken off. It was then we discovered the broken flat door and windows.

“A couple of small electrical devices had been stolen and we realised that the HomeStart charity boxes were missing too, containing about £200.”

As soon as Susannah announced this on social media the Alton community stepped up, with a pledge from Homes Estate Agents to give £1 for every new ‘like’ on their business page over a period of a day, resulting in a £500 cheque, with a further £250 coming from neighbouring Kemp and Stevens Funeral Directors which, together with cash donations from customers, resulted in an amazing £960 for the charity.

“It certainly twisted a negative into a huge positive and shows what a fantastic community we live in!” said Susannah.