Thief steals a whole bunch of kilos raised in reminiscence of five-year-old boy who died of mind tumour

A bereaved father has revealed a callous thief took hundreds of pounds from a wishing well in memory of his son who died aged five from a brain tumour.

Tristan Cork has put on a ‘winter wonderland’ display in his village with the help of neighbours and local businesses for the past five years to attract visitors, who drop cash into the well.

The proceeds go towards Finnbar’s Force, a charity supporting families facing childhood cancer which he set up in 2017 and named after his son.

But a volunteer forgot to collect the money from the well earlier this week, allowing an ‘opportunist’ to prise open a protective metal mesh over the top and take all the cash inside.

Someone with inside knowledge is suspected to be responsible, as they managed to avoid being caught on a motion-activated CCTV camera that is pointed at the spot.

Dismayed Mr Cork, 43, said: ‘That money has been taken from families who are going through a really tough time and from the pot of money that we have to put on this lights display.

‘Someone’s had to go to quite a bit of effort to get this off and steal the money from it, which is really disappointing.’

Describing how the winter wonderland in Hethersett, Norfolk – which costs thousands of pounds to set up with 150,000 lights installed over a two-month period – he added: ‘We put on this display every year as a community event, something that people can bring their kids to and families can come and enjoy.

Several hundred pounds is believed to have been stolen from a wishing well set up by Tristan Cork as part of a winter wonderland display in Hethersett, Norfolk, in memory of his son, Finnbar

‘It costs us money to put the lights display on, to buy lights and a lot of time and effort and it’s really disheartening, really disappointing, that somebody from this community or further afield has come here and done this, to spoil our event.

‘If people do things like this, it really does make us wonder whether we’ll be able to keep doing it.’

Driven Mr Cork set up the charity a year after his son died in 2016 and the display first appeared in a series of local gardens with the help of neighbours the following year.

Visitors began knocking on his door to offer cash for his charity, so they started taking donations a few years later.

Now there are collection boxes attached to lampposts, in addition to the well which was built by a retired local carpenter and sits in another neighbour’s garden.

Over the years, the annual display has ‘snowballed’ in popularity, helping to raise £30,000, including £10,000 last year.

It is a substantial chunk of the £500,000 the charity has raised overall through events including cycle rides and balls.

The well is covered by two CCTV cameras but failed to capture the culprit, who struck on Monday night.

Finnbar was just five when he died from a brain tumour – leading to his doting father setting up Finnbar’s Force, a charity supporting families facing childhood cancer

The winter wonderland in Hethersett features more than 150,000 lights in several residents’ gardens and takes two months to set up

One camera had dropped the wi-fi connection it needs to record activity, while the other is motion-sensitive but wasn’t activated at the time of the theft.

Paramedic Mr Cork, who is married to wife Claire, 41, and has a daughter Nell, 13, and stepson Alfie, 22, said: ‘I’d imagine whoever did it knew that camera was there.

‘It’s possible to get into position behind the well where it doesn’t get activated.’

He added: ‘It’s difficult to say exactly how much money was in there. We hadn’t counted it before it was taken.

‘What I can say is that on an average night there can be £200 and on a good night, such as a weekend just before Christmas – it can be £500-600.

‘We know that there were quite a few notes in there because people have sent us pictures of the well to show it was okay at that time.’

Norfolk Constabulary are looking through neighbours’ CCTV in the hope of gathering evidence about the thief.

A force spokeswoman said: ‘We received a report on December 9 that money had been stolen from a charity in Hethersett.

Finnbar, seen in hospital with cuddly toys in matching pyjamas

Mr Cork and Finnbar, with wife Claire, 41, and daughter Nell, who is now 13

‘The incident took place on Park Green sometime between 7pm on Monday December 8 and 7:30am on Tuesday December 9 when a charity donation wishing well, which is part of a Christmas light display, was broken into and donations were stolen.

‘An investigation is underway and we’re asking anyone who witnessed the incident or who has any information or relevant doorbell footage to get in touch.’