Bobby brings home the bacon after breakfast club robbery

BOWLED over! PC John Stafford is thanked for his help by, from left, cafe manager Maria Maguire, community director Stephanie Deacon and breakfast club leader Ruth Brookes

A COMMUNITY bobby is the toast of an Oldham breakfast club after a heartless crime unexpectedly dished up bowlfuls of generosity.

The much-loved early morning gathering for children and families in Cherry Avenue, Alt, was dealt a blow when hundreds of pounds were stolen from the kitty.

But community bobby PC John Stafford heard of their plight - and not only did he solve the crime, but also vowed to help them snap, crackle and pop again too!

John began emailing local supermarkets to see if they could donate food and was bowled over by their response.

“I couldn’t give them back all the money, but the next best thing would be to get local businesses to donate and help them out with the breakfasts and things for the kids. I was overwhelmed by the response.

“Asda and Tesco in Huddersfield Road, Tesco Express, in Ashton Road, Sainbury’s and Iceland’s Food Warehouse on Alexandra Retail Park all went over and above. They gave us so much stuff it was was unbelievable.

“The freezers are now full and they’ve got plenty of cereal, coffee, milk and sugar. Tesco even baked them cookies for the children and Asda donated a gift card for them to spend on whatever they wanted.

“It was a fantastic response and more than I ever expected.”

Alt Community Challenge Team’s community director Stephanie Deacon said they can’t thank PC Stafford — and the local supermarkets — enough, in fact she was so grateful she sent a letter of gratitude to the Chronicle.

“The robbery was a huge blow for us,” said Stephanie. “It meant we had to make a choice between buying food and funding activities for the children, and with the holidays coming up that was hard.

“When we found out what PC Stafford was doing we were absolutely stunned. This is community policing at its best.”



::The offender was cautioned over the theft on condition they repay some of the money.