Furniture was handed to a charity shop in Birmingham after the death of 87-year-old Joan Carter

Charity shop workers had a shock when they discovered a donated wardrobe contained a hidden treasure.

The Welcome charity shop in Lea Village, Birmingham, was handed the piece of bedroom furniture by the family of Joan Carter after her death at the age of 87, according to The Birmingham Mail.

But relatives must not have checked every item when they cleared out her home, because staff later discovered the wardrobe contained £1,000 cash in old £20 notes.

And after the volunteers went to every effort to track down the donors, the money has been returned to the family. David Taylor with charity workers Lee Quinney and Conner Kelly

 

It will allow Joan’s grieving daughter Cheryl to fly home from Australia to attend her mum’s funeral.

It was David Taylor who emptied his mother-in-law’s home in Enford Close, Shard End.

Shop worker Lee Quinney said: “After taking the wardrobes to our warehouse, we discovered that in one of them was a small plastic money bag containing £1,000 in cash.

“We didn’t have a number for the person who donated them, so we returned to the house with the money but it was empty.

“So I scrolled through our phone records in an attempt to reunite the customer with the money.

“After several wrong numbers, I managed to get the right person on the phone and gave him the good news.

“He [David] was, as expected, totally unaware that the money was in the wardrobe and was delighted with the news.”

Widow Joan, a former school cook, died the day before the donation on May 26.

 

 

And the cash will be put to the best of uses before her funeral on June 17.

Mr Taylor said: “This money has been a blessing, as it will help pay for Joan’s daughter Cheryl to fly home from Australia and attend her mum’s funeral.

 

“It would have been a major struggle for her if this money was not there, so I just cannot thank the charity shop enough for their honesty.”

He added: “I checked that wardrobe thoroughly but did not see any cash in there. I think Bill, Joan’s late husband, must have put it there for safe keeping.

“The £20 notes were old notes and I was just in time to be able to get them changed at the bank.

“The family has had a difficult time recently, so this has meant the world to us.

“And I know Joan would have been over the moon.

“There are still a lot of kind and honest people out there and I cannot praise the charity shop enough.”