Thieves broke into a charity shop and stole money which would have helped pay for terminally-ill people to receive end-of-life care.

Weston Hospicecare’s Clevedon shop was targeted on Tuesday, with the burglars making off with cash and damaging the premises.

It is the second of the charity’s stores to be targeted within the past month, following a similar incident in Weston in February.

The hospice has set up a fundraising page to try to recoup the lost money and unexpected additional expenditure.

The Clevedon shop, in The Triangle, was raided this week and the thieves damaged the door making their way inside.

MORE: Nailsea cafe broken into as thieves steal cash.

The hospice’s retail director Gemma Turner said: “It is the support of our community which makes our shops such an essential and successful part of the hospice’s fundraising operation, enabling us to continue helping people with life-limiting illnesses when they need us most.

“Incidents such as these have an impact on the staff and volunteers who are upset to see their shop targeted in this way, but the impact will also be felt by the shop’s customers and the wider community, as well as the hospice itself.

“Indeed, it is our patients who will lose out, as money raised by our shops would normally go towards their care.

“If money has to be found for repairs, that is money which cannot be spent in direct support of our patients – and so we are hoping our community will help us to undo the damage done by these criminals.

“It is a small amount of money, but small amounts of money can make a big difference for us.”

Weston Hospicecare’s Milton Road store was broken into on February 13-14, with the intruders taking a small amount of cash which was meant to be used a till float.

A JustGiving online donation page has been set up as a result.

Ms Turner added: “Any donation would be very gratefully received.”

To make a donation, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/wh-shopappeal