The Tale of the Honest Acton Teenager

Woman reunited with wallet wants to thank her helper

Alison Martin contacted us to tell us a story which throws a completely new light onto Acton High Street.

A few weeks ago she attended Mass in a church on Acton High Street with her two children. She told us: "When I came out of 6.00 o'clock Mass with my two children, I took my purse out of my bag to buy a raffle ticket.  I had just been to the cash point to withdraw a large amount of money and was carrying £400 in cash in my purse." 

As Alison walked up Acton High St, she turned to look for her friend Deborah who was giving her and her children a lift.

"Turning to look for Deborah, I fell over on an uneven pavement.  But I picked myself up - my children thought it was pretty funny that I had fallen over - and got into Deborah's car."

But when Alison got home she realised that her purse had fallen out of her bag.  She quickly retraced her steps back to Acton High Street but the purse was nowhere to be seen. 

"We asked a female police officer if she had seen it but she hadn't.  I then reported my details to the Police Station in the optimistic hope that someone from church might have picked it up and was hoping to get just the purse back as apart from the money it contained my drivers license, debit card, credit card, library card and receipts.

"Having given my details to Roxy at the police station I rather dejectedly walked back to my house, had some dinner and tried to cheer myself up by watching Dancing on Ice with my sons.  Half way through the programme I got a call from Roxy who was very excited to inform me that my purse had indeed been handed to a policewoman on Acton High Street by a teenage boy.

"When I went down to collect my purse I was really thrilled to discover that all the contents of my purse were intact--the cash, cards and the rest of the detritus."

With teenagers often getting a bad press these days, Alison is full of praise for whoever handed in her purse: "I do not know who the teenager was that handed in my purse--no details were given to the policewoman.

"I would very much like to thank him and tell him that he has not only restored my faith in human nature but also that of my many friends who live in Acton. I have shared this tale with everyone I know.  If we could find a way of identifying this lad, I would very much like to thank him personally and offer him a reward."

If anyone out there knows the honest teenager who did Alison a very good turn, please ask him to email the website and we will be delighted to put the two of them in touch.  

July 22, 2009