Volunteers have been left in tears after thieves stole cash and Lynx gift sets from a north Manchester food bank.
Rainbow Surprise's base at Crumpsall Community Hall is believed to have been targeted on Saturday night. After hurling a brick through the office window, the thieves ransacked the building before fleeing with £1,100 in cash.
Food bank products including Lynx gift sets were also taken while a till and a computer were damaged in the break-in. Shakar Hussain, chair of Rainbow Surprise, discovered the damage when he arrived at the charity's base on Sunday afternoon.
READ MORE: 'On Wednesday, my happy little girl started being sick... by Thursday, she was gone'
"Our office door was open and there was loads of shattered glass on the chair," he said. "They smashed the till up and emptied it out."
Mr Hussain said he was left 'shocked and angry' by the damage, adding that some volunteers had been left in tears. The food bank, which helps hundreds of people each week, has been forced to shut for several days.
"It's really upsetting," he said. "Financially and emotionally, the impact is massive.
"We've not been able to open so people are missing out on food parcels and the community fridge. We get about 50 to 60 people on average a day including people who are lonely and come in for a chat.
"The most distressing thing is that whoever has done this must be so desperate. I'm angry but, at the same time, I feel for them that they have had to go to this level to get a little bit of money.
"If they really needed help, they could have just asked us rather than doing what they did."
Volunteers are now working to clean up the food bank's home in the basement of Crumpsall Community Hall, in Cleveland Road. It is hoped that it will be able to reopen on Thursday.
The charity has launched a fundraiser and is hoping to raise £10,000 to repair the damage and boost security at the building, including installing CCTV.
Shakar and his wife Shabnam set up Rainbow Surprise in 2011. Now 13 years on, it has become a lifeline to hundreds of people living below the breadline across the north of the city.
Earlier this year, Shakar was recognised for his work when he won two awards at Manchester City Council's Be Proud Awards, including the coveted Pride of Manchester award.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed that it had launched an investigation into the break-in. No arrests have been made at this stage.
The force said anyone with any information should contact police on 101 or online quoting incident number 2197 of 16/6/24 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
