I WOULD like the despicable individual who stole my holdall from the back porch of Holgate Methodist Church last Friday at 1pm to be aware of this.

You did not steal from the small elderly lady you obviously watched unloading her car.

Neither did you steal from the other elderly lady who was trying to clear the leaves in front of the church. God knows that would be bad enough.

No, you were even lower than that, you stole from a group of children aged between eight and 15 years old. These children contribute £2 a week towards our singing club, and were eagerly looking forward to our first public show, Dreams In Their Eyes, on Friday night, which incidentally was a resounding success.

You stole an envelope containing £60 which was part of our running cost bills. You stole the £1 coins we had set aside for our petty cash. You stole our microphones, our sheet music, our CDs, our song words and all the club records.

What you could not steal was my determination to ensure that the show would be a success, and the children's determination to make their dreams come true.

You may have delayed our efforts to purchase our own sound system, and you have delayed our ultimate aim to sponsor a local children's charity.

But we can sleep soundly, safe in the knowledge that we are achieving something through our own efforts - not by theft from a group of small children.

I later recovered the holdall, without the money and saleable items, but with the club records intact.

Liz Edge,

New Generation Singing Club,

Parkside Close, York.

Updated: 09:27 Tuesday, October 12, 2004