A FUNDRAISER has raised more than £1,000 in just 24 hours for an Abersychan pastor who had his home burgled.

Pastor John Funnell of Noddfa Church in Abersychan had the church computer and his family car stolen from his home on Thursday night.

Following the burglary, Abersychan ward councillor Giles Davies set up a fundraiser to help Pastor Funnell replace the stolen items.

In 24 hours, the fundraiser had raised £1,115.

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Cllr Davies said: “I wanted to show him how much people love and support him.

“As an independent chapel he does lots of work himself, and just gets money from the congregation.

“This type of support shows what people think of him, to raise so much in just 24 hours.

“You have to remember what he does for the ward: organising Carols under the Arch, collections for the homeless, homework clubs, offering financial advice.

“Any burglary is bad enough but when you pick on someone that has done nothing but help people - it’s terrible.”

Pastor Funnell said: “We woke up Friday morning to find that somebody had been in our home.

“They had taken the church laptop from the living room along with the keys to our family car.

“The car was then driven away through the front garden and over our side hedge and fence, rather than using the driveway, causing significant damage.

“As a family we have devoted ourselves to sharing the love of God to our wonderful community and as a result we have little of any worth bar the necessities needed for the ministry.

“The laptop played a big part in our work and contains all of our contacts, study notes, lectures and presentations as well as family photos.

“My wife and young children are understandably upset by the invasion of privacy and it will take some time to digest the risk that we were all put in.

“With that said we give thanks to God that nobody was hurt and we prayed that the perpetrator would benefit more from these items than we ever did.

“If by any chance the perpetrator is reading this, we want you to know that we love you and forgive you and pray that you will come to know the love of God that has been perfectly revealed to us in Jesus Christ.

“I want to thank Noddfa church for their love and support during this traumatic time, we are so blessed to be a part of such a strong and loving community.

“I want to thank the local Police for their rapid response and ongoing investigation, my dear friend Cllr Giles Davies for all of his support and for everyone in the community who has sent messages and offered help.”

The fundraiser can be found here.

If you have any information about the incident, please contact Gwent Police on 101, quoting crime reference number 0057.