Liverpool charity café fundraising for shutters after three break-ins in two weeks

A Liverpool café that provides support, food and training to homeless people is fundraising towards security shutters and CCTV after the venue was broken into for the third time in two weeks last night.

Paper Cup Café is fundraising towards extra security measures after its glass front was smashed overnight, and a small quantity of cash stolen from the till. Shutters to cover the entire venue are estimated to cost around £30-£40,000, "which we don't have," the venue said on social media.

The café was also burgled under similar circumstances on 21 March and 2 April. As well as operating as a café and charity, the venue enables customers to ‘pay forward' for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness to eat and drink for free, meaning that while the café has had to close to repair the property, it is not only losing trade but having to turn away people who rely on the café for food. The venue is hoped to reopen tomorrow.

Having to fund repairs is also placing the future of the café at risk, with the insurance claim not worth the excess, owner Michelle Langan said in a post on Instagram.

She said the charity was "running on fumes at the moment", adding: "We've probably got a few months left of trading the way things are going at the moment and these break-ins are not helping because it's money's that's got to come out of the charity to pay for it...

"We need help. If anyone is able to donate, I know everyone's struggling at the moment, it's really, really hard for people... it helps us to carry on," she said.

Merseyside Police said enquiries into all three incidents were "ongoing" and it is appealing for anyone with information to get in touch.

Inspector of community policing Jack Woodward said: "To break into a local cafe is completely reprehensible, particularly one that helps to support the homeless and rough sleepers. We're determined to find the person or persons responsible and bring them to justice.

"Burglaries from cafes, or any type of business for that matter, are not victimless crimes as they have a huge impact on the community in many ways. If you have any information to help find those responsible, please get in touch."

If anyone has any information they are asked to contact the social media desk @MerPolCC on Twitter or Merseyside Police Contact Centre on Facebook with reference 23000277672.