Burglars “totally pillaged” a charity shop in Reading during the weekend.

They stole £2,000 from the safe of Sue Ryder in Tilehurst, took all the store’s jewelry and a box of chocolates gifted to its volunteers as a Christmas present.

Manager Simon Barlow described opening the shop at 6am this morning to find it had been ransacked.

“The mess was just horrible to walk into,” he said.

“To come into that place that’s been totally pillaged is just disgusting. It took me three hours just to clean the mess up.

Read more: Reading 'busy' as shoppers flock to town on last weekend before Christmas

Simon and his team of 22 volunteers were getting ready to launch their Christmas sale, raising money for people needing end of life care at the Duchess of Kent Hospice, Liebenrood Rd, Reading.

Without the company laptop, they can’t process any more donations.

Reading Chronicle: Signs of forced entry on the doorframe of Sue Ryder, Tilehurst, Reading, where burglars stole around £2,000-worth of goodsSigns of forced entry on the doorframe of Sue Ryder, Tilehurst, Reading, where burglars stole around £2,000-worth of goods

“It’s horrible. We do it cause we love the job and we were trying to launch a sale and get the volunteers going.

“We’re all struggling. We lost so much money during lockdown and who knows what’s going to happen next week.

Read more: The amazing local businesses you can support for Christmas

“They even stole a box of chocolates that a customer had bought us to say thank you for everything.”

This is the second time in three years the shop has been broken into.

“I try and have faith in people. I secretly hope that their immediate need was greater than that of the charity. Unfortunately I’m really struggling to see how the mess that they made actually benefitted them.”

“I find it really hard to forgive that.”

Thames Valley Police estimate that the break-in occured between 5pm on Saturday and 6am today (Monday).