‘CALLOUS’ thieves have stolen a knitted display designed by children from a special school who wanted to thank key workers for their heroic efforts during the Covid pandemic.

Royal Mail worker Nicki Hall organised the competition with Mowbray School in Bedale for pupils to design a knitted post box topper to bring a smile to people’s faces.

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Almost 300 children took part in the competition and the Mayor of Bedale Andrew Hallett picked out four winning designs which were expertly brought to life by the Ninja Knitters of Bedale.

But just over a week after the display was unveiled on a post box in Bedale town centre, it was stolen.

The Northern Echo:

Nicki said it was ‘devastating’ for the children and she urged anybody who knew anything about the theft or the whereabouts of the topper to do the right thing and come forward.

She said: “It is absolutely devastating that somebody would be so callous to steal it.

“We got the whole community involved and for somebody to just steal it with no thought is diabolical.

“It was a work in progress getting everyone involved and when we put it out it made people smile when they were posting a letter; we just wanted to make the community smile.

“We had put so much effort into it as a community – the staff at the school and the knitters were all amazing – and we just hope whoever is responsible for taking it will think again and hand it back.”

The Northern Echo:

The delightful display featured key workers including doctors, nurses and a postman alongside bright rainbow colours and messages of thanks.

Nicki is hopeful that it is still in one piece as no parts of it have been found around the town.

And she urged whoever has it to hand it in at Bedale post office or even hand it back to a postman if they spot one.

It is believed the display, which was unveiled on October 14, was stolen on the night of Friday, October 22.

 

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