Earlier this year, heartless thieves butchered fuel tanks on our charity vehicles - causing more than £15k damage. 

To help rebuild our fleet, Newcastle United FC has kindly donated prizes to be used in our UNITED Raffle to help rebuild our fleet. 

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Watch the moment cruel thugs sawed our fuel tanks on charity vehicles. 

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The vandalised staff cars and minibuses - parked in our Emmsworth site in Sunderland - are used by autistic children and young people for off-site curriculum education.

Students who are not able to be taught in a classroom environment rely on the vehicles to access their education in a community setting.

Many of the users could also struggle if their routine is changed or their surroundings are not what they expected.

Five vehicles – a mix of cars and mini buses - have been left completely ruined by the thieves.

John Phillipson, our CEO, has labelled the impact of the theft and damage caused as "devastating".

He said:

Our staff turned up to see what initially looked like a fuel leak in the car park. 

On closer inspection it became clear that the tanks on multiple vehicles had been destroyed. It wasn’t until we looked at the CCTV that we realised the extent of this campaign of heartless vandalism. 

There’s no doubt about it, it was deliberate, calculated and designed to give the thieves a quick hit – but the impact on us is devastating.

Chris Dempster, director of education, said:

It takes a certain type of person who would deliberately and calculatingly steal from a charity. We don’t just have a spare £15,000 lying around to fix this – and that’s before we think about the hike in our insurance bills that will come from this.  The loss of a mini bus may not seem much – but for autistic people, expecting their normal routine, expecting their familiar environments, and expecting their day to go as planned, it’s devastating.

It’s a cruel blow.

With the generous donation from Newcastle United FC, we hope to attract funds to recoup our costs and get our vehicles back on the road.

1^st Prize: Mascot place including four match tickets!

03/08/19 Friendly pre-season match against St. Etienne

2^nd Prize: Two corporate box seats

(There are five chances to win this prize!)

3^rd Prize: Framed signed shirt

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The winners of the 'Keep us on the Road' NUFC raffle are...

1st prize - mascot place including four match tickets! 

Winner:
ticket number 0167 - S.Parker

2nd prize - Two corporate box seats

Winners: 
ticket numbers: 0212 - C.Greer, 0236 - L.Tolley, 0062 - J.Elgar, 0181 - K.Gray, 0260 - M.Williams.

 3rd prize - Framed signed shirt

Winner: 
ticket number 0219 - V. Phillipson

All winners have been contacted by email. Please check your ticket numbers.

Thank you to Newcastle United for their kind donations and to everyone who purchased tickets!

A total of £500 was raised to help us rebuild our fleet!