Thieves steal €1,000 in foreign coins from Sliema church

For three years, the congregation and friends of the Holy Trinity church on Rudolph Street in Sliema have been collecting their foreign coins in a large jar kept at the back of the church. The plan was to give the coins to Air Malta to change into hard cash for their nominated local charity.

As the large jar was nearly full they were planning to do this at Christmas.

Sadly, before they were able to hand over their donation, someone entered the church and stole the jar and money.

The jar was extremely heavy but a search of the surrounding area did not reveal either the jar or its contents.

“This is heart-breaking,” Ursula Smith, church warden, said. “With so many people putting in for so long, and now it has been wasted. Not only will it not go to charity. As the contents have no value in Malta, when the thief discovers this they will just be dumped. We will start again but it will be hard.”

Holy Trinity is an Anglican Church. Its members are very active within the community and help various charities in Malta and abroad.

Vicar Fr Clem Upton said it was important to keep the church doors open. “Many people seek solace within its holy walls. It’s sad when this privilege is abused.”

The thieves may not have known the jar contained foreign coins and dumped it far away when they realised the coins were useless to them.

“Anyone who finds a large glass jar filled with coins is asked to hand it over to Sliema police station,” Smith said. “Although we are of course disappointed that the money we had been raising was stolen, we are determined to carry on. This Saturday, 10 December, we are holding a Christmas Fayre in the grounds of the church, complete with Father Christmas and a wandering minstrel playing carols.”