Published:
4:00 PM September 3, 2022
An Ipswich community has rallied round to help a little girl celebrate turning eight after she lost her birthday money.
Anna Taylor and her daughter Sienna went to Tesco Express in Copdock to food for a picnic and to decide what she would like to get with her birthday money.
Ms Taylor said: “Sienna put her £10 in the back pocket, and when we went to the checkout, she said the money was gone.
“We traced our steps a couple of times, but there was no sign of it anywhere. We paid for the shopping and went to customer services to ask if anyone handed the note in, which at that point wasn’t there.”
When mum and daughter came home, Anna posted a question on the online Chantry community group and was “overwhelmed” with the help they received from their neighbours.
Ms Taylor said: “I’ve been part of the group since it’s been running. I thought, just by chance, if I mentioned that my daughter lost her £10, someone who finds it might be more inclined to hand it in.
“I didn’t expect for what happened to happen. I wasn’t on the prowl for donations or anything like that, but everyone was commenting and saying that they would give her the money back or they wanted to donate half.
“Then we got a really kind offer from CodFellas fish and chip shop for a meal, a lady was offering for Sienna’s hair and nails to be done, and it was just so lovely to see that the community was giving offers for a little girl who was sad that she lost her birthday money.”
The next day, Ms Taylor read a comment under her post mentioning that somebody had handed in a £10 note that was found on a shelf in the store.
Chantry community helped Sienna find her birthday money
– Credit: Anna Taylor
Eight-year-old Sienna and her mum went to the shop and got the birthday money back.
Ms Taylor said that it is not the first time that the Chantry community has got together for different people and different causes.
She added: “I was overwhelmed seeing complete strangers, who, as everyone now, are going through a bit of hardship at the moment with the raising prices, offering my daughter their spare money. It’s definitely touching.”
