The Express and Echo
EXETER, England — Donations flooded in after a charity posted an angry ‘tweet’ about an item being stolen from its city shop.
And users of the Twitter website raised £185, more than the value of flute which was taken from the Devon Air Ambulance Trust (DAAT) charity shop in Cowick Street, Exeter, on Monday.
Just a few hours after the theft of the item, priced at £130, was reported on Twitter in what is known as a ‘tweet’, James Barisic, who works for Every Solicitors, in Exeter, took up the cause.
He set up a Just Giving web page to raise the money so the charity would not lose out.
And £185 was raised overnight.
Around 25 people rose to the challenge and made donations with one generous person donating £50.
Nicknamed the ‘Karmic Flute appeal’, on the Just Giving page James wrote: “Somebody stole a flute from the Devon Air Ambulance shop in Cowick Street, Exeter.
“Let’s spread a little bit of Karmic love by making sure DAAT doesn’t lose out.
“The flute would have raised £130 for DAAT so let’s raise £140.”
Devon Air Ambulance Trust have been overwhelmed by people’s kindness.
A spokeswoman for the charity said they felt ‘humbled by the support’.
Caroline Creer, fundraising director for DAAT, told the Echo: “We are very touched and heartened at the fantastic response.
“We would especially like to thank James and everyone in the Karmic Flute Club and everyone who re-tweeted it.
“It reached far and wide, with one person tweeting us from Essex. We are very grateful to everyone who got involved with it.”
Chief executive of the Devon Air Ambulance Trust, Heléna Holt, described the incident on Monday as ‘sickening’.
Ms Holt said: “It’s not only stealing essential funds from a local charity, which relies totally on public donations.
“It’s also stealing from a generous member of the public who made this fantastic donation in the first place.”
Police said the flute was reported stolen between 9am and 3pm on Monday, and that it was being investigated.
It is understood that the flute was positioned in the window of the shop which is boxed in and would have meant someone leaning far into the window or going inside it to reach it.
The DAAT relies on donations to keep two emergency air ambulances flying.
The charity says this is no small achievement as each year it has to raise in the region of £4million to keep both of the helicopters airborne.
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