St Mary's Church to up security after donation money stolen

St Mary’s church has seen an a mount of money stolen from its donation boxes in the church, leading to plans to up security and empty the boxes more regularly.

Reverend Canon Charles Patrick said: “It’s not good at all – it’s something we’re keeping an eye on and will be putting measures in place to keep it more secure.”

On a positive note, recently it was reported that NCS students in Horncastle from Banovallum and Queen Elizabeth Grammar School were raising money for, and tidy up the grounds of, St Mary’s church.

As well as keeping up the maintenance of the church yard, the students also ran a GoFundMe project to raise money to have CCTV cameras installed outside the church, and on Sunday the students presented Rev Charles with £315, which he said will cover the costs to be able to fund the CCTV.

Rev. Charles said: "We were so grateful for their fundraising too, we said that CCTV is something we’d like to have and they said they wanted to raise money for us – we’re very grateful.”

You can make a donation to the students’ appeal at https://gofund.me/3e28574c

A spokesman for Horncastle, Spilsby and Woodhall Spa Police said: “St Mary’s Church has been targeted by thieves stealing the donation money from within.

"We will be increasing our presence in the area.”Officers are also appealing for anyone in the area to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity, or report any information they may have, to police by calling 101, or 999 in an emergency.