Campaign raises £28,000 after thieves steal £3,000 worth of Christmas presents from sick children in hospital

More than £28,000 has been raised for charity after £3,000 worth of Christmas gifts meant for sick children in hospital were stolen.

Police are still hunting for the thieves who took the presents from a storage room at St Mary’s Hospital in London.

About 150 unwrapped gifts that were donated to the intensive care ward were set to be given to critically ill children having to spend the day at the hospital.

They went missing from a store room last Tuesday, along with LED candles, wrapping paper and a Santa suit.

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The presents were due to be given out to hospitalised children as well as those at a Christmas party organised by the Children of St Mary’s Intensive Care (Cosmic) charity.

It has arranged a carol concert on December 5 and a party n December 11.

Vicky Rees, head of fundraising at the charity, said the theft was “devastating”.

However, a fundraising page set up by the charity to raise money to help replace the presents has reached well over its £3,000 target.

Today, the donations to the Cosmic Christmas Appeal page on Virgin Money Giving passed the £28,000 mark.

“It helps us because we have children with a range of complex needs,” Ms Rees told the Mail Online.

“We have to match every gift up to every child.”

The charity said children who end up at the hospital’s intensive care unit are usually in a critical condition from conditions such as meningitis and sepsis or severe accident trauma.

Police are appealing for information about the theft.

Detective Sergeant Tom Hirst said: “This is an awful crime at this time of year and hard to imagine what kind of person would steal gifts so clearly destined for sick children to make their lives a little brighter this festive season.”