A FAMILY whose Easter was left in tatters after burglars raided their home have had their faith in humanity restored thanks to generous Dorset Echo readers. Weymouth mum Michelle Rainford said she was left feeling ‘upset and violated’ after thieves broke into their Douglas Road home and stole her children’s Easter eggs and raided their piggy banks.

They also stole a television, laptop and computer games.

After hearing of the devastating impact the burglary had on the family the local community has rallied round.

Through the Echo, donations have been made totalling £250 and a number of Easter eggs were supplied for the children.

Mum-of-three Michelle said: “I really didn’t expect this.

“People’s generosity has touched me greatly.

“It’s nice to know that there are some good people out there and it’s restoring my faith in human beings really.

“I just want to say thank you to everybody that’s done this, it will certainly make my children’s Easter a lot happier.”

John Pearce from Alf’s Fish and Chip Shop in Lynch Road donated £50 after reading the story in the Echo and said he wanted to do something for the family.

He said: “My heart goes out to them, it’s terrible.

“We have been burgled. Our shop got broken into and they stole our charity money so I know how it must feel for them, especially for young children.”

Two generous anonymous donors also contributed £100 each to Michelle and her family.

One said: “When I read the story I felt so sorry for the family that I wanted to help in some way.

“Hopefully this money means they can replace some of what was stolen. It’s such a nasty thing to happen, especially at this time of year.”

Meanwhile, the service manager at Tesco Metro in Weymouth town centre, David Lane, got in touch with the Echo to offer six Easter eggs for the children after he became aware of the burglary.

He said: “We saw the story on the front page of the Echo and it’s such a sad story we wanted to do something.

“We have a community budget each year to help the local community and we wanted to help the family out.

“It’s such a horrible thing that has happened and we wanted to do anything that we can to help and that’s why we have donated the eggs.”

The manager at Sainsbury’s Weymouth store Steve Jones has also offered to donate three large Easter eggs and eight smaller ones after hearing of the family’s plight.