The founder of a wildlife study centre in Sholing that was struck by thieves has said it was ‘tear-jerking’ to see an overwhelming amount of donations flood in.

Founder of the Sholing Valleys Study Centre, Colin Oliphant, and his team of volunteers, were left devastated after criminals ripped the office window off the wall and stole thousands of pounds worth of equipment.

At around 6.30am on Easter Sunday, thieves took around £4,000 of equipment, including a laptop, a Cannon camera, the CCTV system, four bat detectors and other equipment from the study centre in Station Road.

It was thought extra cash would be needed to increase the security at the building.

In a bid to secure the future of the centre and regain some of the lost equipment, the centre launched an appeal for donations.

Since the robbery, the centre has now raised more than £4,000 from community donations.

Founder Colin said: “When we saw the amount of donations me and the other committee members looked at each other with our mouths open.

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“The response has been tear-jerking, and donations have come from across Southampton. A wonderful lady in Bitterne wrote to me personally after reading the Echo and donated £50.

“One man donated more than £1,000 to us and we even had two £100 donations from Essex.

“It's brilliant to know that the people of Southampton value what we do and are as passionate as we are.”

Colin said that the money raised had replaced much of the stolen equipment and paid for an upgraded alarm system, new CCTV and new locks on the doors.

He added: “It's heart-breaking we have to turn the centre into a fortress but we have been blown away by the generous response of these fantastic people.”

The centre gets most of its funding through donations and local community events such as its bird box-making event - which makes a small profit from the sale of the boxes.

Colin and his wife Linda set up the study centre in 1983 to stop the council from developing the Miller's Pond local nature reserve.