MEMBERS of the Looe Shedders group have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help raise funds to replace a considerable amount of power tools and other equipment that were reportedly stolen from its storage units in St Martin’s Church car park.

It is believed thieves struck sometime between Thursday morning (November 28) and Saturday morning (November 30), leaving the group without key machinery in their efforts to complete a series of community projects.

The Looe Shedders meet twice a month at the St Martin’s Community Hall and have around 50 members, male and female, who work as a collective on a series of projects.

Most recently, projects they have completed have included a new wooden playground bus for youngsters at Looe Primary School, as well as a seaside mural for Hillcrest Care Home in the town.

There are, however, considerably more projects in the pipeline and the thefts will mean some of these will take much longer to complete whilst the search for replacement tools and equipment is carried out.

“Without these tools we will struggle to complete our projects, for which we have quite a long list,” said Chris Roy, Looe Shedders’ chairman. “We estimate that replacing these tools and upgrading security at our site will cost somewhere in the region of £2,000.”

The charitable group, which was set up just before the pandemic in 2020, meet on the second Saturday and fourth Thursday of each month – with the aim of helping participants combat loneliness and exclusion, whilst at the same time building friendships, as well as working on and making things for the benefit of the local community.

Anyone with any information on the thefts is asked to contact Devon and Cornwall Police, quoting the crime reference 502-4-3-02585.

Click here to go to the Looe Shedders GoFundMe page.