COLLEAGUES at a retail store are putting their oven gloves back on and preparing for a second Macmillan Coffee Morning after the funds they raised were stolen.

A Southern Co-op store that held their first coffee morning on September 28, and raised just over £200 for the charity, had a nasty surprise when the next night the money was stolen in a robbery.

But colleagues have decided not to let the incident get them down and have arranged a second cake sale on Friday October 12.

Southern Co-op’s community team has also agreed to match-fund all of the money made on the day.

Ivor Smith, store manager of the Co-op in Seymour Lane, North Baddesley, said: “I wouldn’t want anyone to go through what we went through but the resilience of the team has been absolutely amazing.

“It has been an honour to not just manage them but to work alongside them and to work amongst such a great community.

“Our local community has offered us so much support since the robbery – it has been really overwhelming. We have asked people to hold off making donations until our coffee morning which we are determined to make an even bigger success than last time.”

Cakes of all shapes, sizes and flavours will be on offer in store throughout the day.

Macmillan Coffee Mornings help to raise vital money for people living with cancer and support Macmillan Cancer Support’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning which has become a British institution over the years.