Staff at a Merivale Road op-shop, which raises funds for the less fortunate, were left shocked after money was stolen from their cash-box.

CHIRP op-shop manager Collette Gaudin says they are stunned that money meant to be used to help the community has gone missing.

CHIRP op-shop manager Collette Gaudin says staff are upset money was stolen from their store. Photo: Greg Taipari.

Collette says while one of the volunteer workers had their back turned, a would-be thief stole $116 from a cash box.

'One of our girls was in the shop and walked out the back to grab her coffee,” explains Collette.

'When she turned around to go back in, the cashbox was gone.

'We think the person who stole [the money] hid in the changing room and when she walked past the changing room, they were out and gone.”

Collette says the store has a protocol of locking the cash box, and while the worker only turned her back for a couple of seconds, it was enough time to steal the money.

The theft has left the volunteers upset and angry.

'We're all volunteers, we're working for the community,” says Collette.

'There is a lot of people in the community who support us and we support them. That money goes towards keeping this place open and keeping it available for the community.

'It's really sad that someone thinks it's an opportunity for them. It's just a waste – we're not here to make money, we're here to help the community.”

The op-shop is part of the community trust known as CHIRP (Community Hope Inspiration Restoration and Participation), which helps people less fortunate with classes such as budgeting advice, free computer lessons and sewing classes.

Money raised from the op-shop helps to run the various classes.

Collette says the staff had learnt a valuable lesson, and police had been supportive throughout the ordeal.

'We've learnt our lesson,” admits Collette, and the police are coming in to give us a talk on how to keep ourselves safe in the community and in the work place.

'We've put in a whole lot of new protocols. It has woken us up a bit. It gave us an idea that perhaps we're a little bit too trusting, which is sad because we would like to think we can trust the people in our community.”

The incident happened on Tuesday, October 6, at 1pm. Collette has asked if anyone saw anything suspicious at that time on Merivale Road to contact police.