Officials at St Elizabeth Hospice have spoken of their gratitude after an Ipswich insurance firm donated funds to cover the cost of repairing one of their vans.

A furniture moving van belonging to the charity was targeted by thieves in April as they stole a catalytic converter, leaving the hospice about £300 out of the pocket and putting the van out of commission for several days.

After seeing the story in this newspaper, Liverpool Victoria employee, Matt Girt, suggested to his bosses that the company cover the costs of the repairs, which were carried out in the week after the theft.

And this week, after handing over the donation of more than £308, the employees visited the hospice.

Jane Petit, Chief Executive of St Elizabeth Hospice, said: “The £300 it would have cost us to repair the van is roughly the equivalent of funding a Hospice nurse for a day so we are immensely grateful to Liverpool Victoria for their kind and generous donation.”

Security was stepped up at the hospice following the theft, which happened between April 22 and April 28.

The van which was targeted transports furniture from people’s homes to St Elizabeth charity shops, with the money being raised going directly to support the organisation’s services.

Peter Horton, LV= Operations Director GI said “The Hospice does great work in the local community and we were sad to learn that its vehicle had been targeted by vandals.

“As one of the larger employers in the area we are always looking for ways to support our local community and we are really pleased to be able to help the hospice with this donation.

“When Matt mentioned to us about the hospice’s van being damaged by vandals we were more than happy to be able to offer our help.

“This was clearly something that meant a lot to Matt and at LV= we encourage our staff to suggest local causes that they would like us to support.”

If you have any information regarding the theft, call Suffolk police on 101 quoting crime reference IE/13/1243.