A CHIPPENHAM man has been left angry and upset and claims people should be ashamed of themselves after handmade cards, which he creates to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society, are being taken without the proper donations.

Mathew Hendricks-Birtles has been creating the cards using his own money since September last year and has so far managed to raise more than £1,000 for the charity, which helps support his partner of 50 years who has been battling Alzheimer’s for the past four years.

But the 72-year-old was left shocked earlier this month after discovering that instead of the minimum donations of £1 or £2, people were donating only coppers for the cards which were for sale in Headways Unisex Barbers and NatWest in Chippenham.

“I’m not blaming the hairdressers or the bank, they have been so good to me,” said Mr Hendricks-Birtles, of Barley Leaves.

“To me it’s a labour of love and I enjoy doing it but it’s so disheartening.

“You wouldn’t think that people would stoop so low. It makes it harder as its all out of my own pocket.

“These people should be ashamed of themselves for stealing from charities where the money is badly needed.”

As a result he has had to remove the cards, which are to mark occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries and weddings, and is currently unable to sell them elsewhere in the town.

“Instead of putting pound coins in they were putting coppers and foreign coins in,” he added.

“At NatWest I should have had £68 but I only had £17 and £1.20 of that was in coppers and foreign coins and I lost about £30 at Headways.

“I’ve still got nearly 200 cards but nowhere to sell them at the minute.

“Last year there was one lady who had a fair table wherever she went but this year she’s not doing it.

“Everywhere you go they want to charge you £30 and it’s very costly.”

Julie Kemp, Alzheimer’s Society community fundraiser for Wiltshire said: “We rely on the generosity of local fundraisers like Mathew to help us continue our vital work so that Alzheimer’s Society can carry on leading the fight against dementia. Mathew has kindly raised money through collecting donations for his handmade cards.

“We are very grateful to Mathew for his hard work and ongoing support. If people are interested in supporting us they can find out more on our website: www.alzheimers.org.uk/fundraise.”