This evening we found out first-hand about the stress and upset that theft causes. I went into our garage to find that several items have been stolen and it seems that our house insurance doesn't cover thefts from garages.

At the moment I'm so full of anger at the disgusting people that stole from us.

My main focus here is to be able to replace my son's road bicycle.

It's his only real passion in life. He was born with dyslexia and a learning difficulty and it takes time and a lot of effort to learn new things. Even riding a bike was an issue. He has persevered over the years and discovered that he enjoyed riding so much. We bought his first road bicycle on ebay for him for Christmas several years ago for about a hundred pounds. When he came down on Christmas morning and found the bike, his face split into the biggest grin and he kept saying "Shut up! Shut. UP!" That was one of my favourite Christmas' ever!

About 3 years ago, he was given some money by his grandparents and after a few months he realised that he was getting far too tall for his bike at the time and made the decision to spend some of that money on a decent bike. He really liked the look and the ride if a Giant Defy 2, which at the time was on a sale price of "only" £699. So he decided to go for it.

I'm happy to say that he's turned into a bit of a bike nut. In 2018 he's cycled nearly 1300 miles according to his tracking app. He's been religious about cleaning it and, despite his learning difficulties, is learning how to maintain it and replace worn parts like disc brakes and cables, bar tape, seats etc. Replacing inner tubes has been a particular challenge, be he stuck with it and no longer needs help.

He's pretty upset to say the least as he has bought quite a few new accessories for it and was looking forward to fitting them and trying them out.

There are other things that were stolen too, which are important in a way to the larger family. Most of all though I want to be able to raise at least £700 to replace his bike.

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An important part of the Christmas period in our family is (after Christmas day and boxing day), New Year's eve. Every year, we celebrate New Years eve by having a huge party with our entire family at a hall together, during which I act as 'DJ'. I had two large speakers and lots of lighting equipment/fog machines etc.

New Years eve wont quite be the same with music played from a bluetooth speaker..

Anything anyone could donate will be hugely appreciated.

The Wilsons