Charity ‘devastated’ by theft of van filled with stock on way to Burghley

A charity is “devastated” by the theft of a camper van filled with stock.

The Mark Davies Injured Riders Fund’s (MDIRF) white Chausson Flash09 camper was taken from the car park outside the Travelodge Burton A38 Northbound between 9.30pm and 10.45pm on Saturday (25 August).

The van, registration WA57 FRD, was full of stock as it was en route to set up at Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in Lincolnshire. This included clothing, including knitwear, dresses, handbags, costume jewellery, shoes and accessories.

MDIRF administrator and fund co-ordinator Rosemary Lang urged anyone with information to contact the police.

“We are all completely devastated. Burghley is one of our bigger events and the van had all our stock, stand and personal items in,” said Ms Lang.

“We now find ourselves in a critical situation and would appeal to everyone to keep an eye out for our van.

“The thieves have no idea the huge impact on their actions and the wider implications it will have on our small charity if it is not recovered in full.

“We always rely on Burghley to help fund a large chunk of our work for the following year. This loss could impact on our ability to help so many of you as we do each year, so please support us if you are able to help in any way you can; from sharing our social media posts to making a small donation on our website, it would be hugely appreciated.

“If you see anyone fundraising with our branded collecting tins, logos and banners please alert the police also as these were also stolen.”

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The charity’s original post about the theft has been shared more than 1,000 times on social media, leading to the recovery of its credit card machine, which was found by a dog walker in bushes around 20 miles south of the Travelodge.

MDIRF will still be at Burghley at stand H1, with limited stock.

“Thank you everyone for all you help in sharing,” read an update posted on the charity’s Facebook page on Sunday afternoon.

“We will still be at Burghley on the stand so please come and say hello and we will have a very limited stock, which fortunately was with Martha of Cashmere Star Jumpers, other various bits of knitwear and some scarves.

“All the rest of our lovely stock is gone so we will do our best and again thank you the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials for the most generous support and see you there on Thursday.”

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Lucy Elder

H&H senior news writer

Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.