Charities’ windfall from stash of cash found in dumped safe

St Elizabeth receives its £8k cheque from Sackers. Pictured from left is Adrian Dodds, Harriett Warriner (EACH matron) and David Dodds Picture: HELEN CRAPNELL (Image: Helen Crapnell, Sackers)

Sackers reported its unusual find of what looked to be around £20k in cash to police last year after its scrap workers opened up dumped safes prior to smelting them and the notes poured out.

When the bundles of mainly £10 notes - some of which were half notes or damaged ones - were counted and old tender removed, it turned out that the safe contained £14,416.

MORE - Ipswich scrap metal workers find £20k stashed in dumped safeThe company wanted the money to go to St Elizabeth Hospice and EACH Children's Hospice so went to court to request it back.

'It was also very dusty which suggested it hadn't been touched for a few years before it was brought to us for processing,' a spokeswoman said.

EACH receiving its donation from Sackers, from left, Adrian Dodds, Hannah Bloom and David Dodds Picture: HELEN CRAPNELL (Image: Helen Crapnell, Sackers)

'There was no record of which customer brought the safe in, or where the money came from, so it was handed in to the police in.

'After a few months of investigation, the police confirmed it wasn't proceeds of crime or that it hadn't been recorded as missing.

'Once the investigation was over, we went to court to ask for the money to be returned to them so we could give it to a local charity.'

The story made international news after Sackers went to court and got the money back from police.

The company decided to round up the donation figure to £16k and give the hospices £8k each.

Joint managing director Adrian Dodds said: 'The money was never ours in the first place so there was no question it had to go to charity. We fought to get it back because we wanted to keep it locally invested for the benefit of Suffolk.'

Joint managing director David Dodds said: 'We have supported EACH for many years and it was one charity we wanted to ensure had half of what was in the safe. The other half goes to another fantastic charity,

St Elizabeth Hospice. It completes our partnership off nicely. It was important to us that the money stayed local'

EACH matron Harriett Warriner said it was a 'wonderful and unique' donation. 'Sackers' extraordinary find and even more extraordinary generosity has also captured the imagination of both the media and the public - helping greatly with our awareness raising too,' she said.

'We rely so heavily on voluntary donations to deliver our services and donated treasure like this really does make a significant difference to local children, young people and their families.'

Hannah Bloom of St Elizabeth Hospice said they were 'very grateful' to Sackers.