THE Golden Vine Hotel is throwing a fundraising bash for a Bendigo carpenter whose entire collection of tools was stolen last week.
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All proceeds from the night will go towards replacing Rory Thompson's $7000 collection, which is vital to his livelihood.
The fundraiser will take place on Thursday, April 3 and will involve a trivia night and raffle.
Mr Thompson said he was thrilled by the Golden Vine's offer and had been overwhelmed by the general public's response.
"It's crazy, I can't believe it," he said.
"I've had a construction worker from Bendigo call me and offer to lend tools, there's a lady who's started up an appeal and they're putting money in a bank account for me ... it's been great.
"I'm speechless; I didn't know what to say to them all."
But despite the generosity of the general public and the kind actions of strangers, Mr Thompson said the past few days had been tough.
"There are some tools I'm kicking myself about not having," he said.
"I cracked it the other day.
"I had to walk off a job today because I couldn't do it."
Mr Thompson said he didn't have much money saved and couldn't afford to take time off work.
"I'm pretty much living pay cheque to pay cheque," he said.
He said when he first bought the tools he tried to get them insured but the insurance company he spoke to refused to cover tools kept in a padlocked trailer.
"They told me they couldn't insure my trailer unless it was a lockable van," Mr Thompson said.
But he has since been approached by a broker who has has offered to help him find a company that will insure him.
Mr Thompson said many other people had also given him advice on extra precautions he could take to better protect his tools in the future.
Central Victorian Crime Scene Services Sergeant Craig Riddiford said the theft highlighted the message for people to be extra vigilant in securing their possessions.
"At the moment tool theft is happening a lot - it's a common trend in country areas because we still have that country mentality of leaving things unsecured, unlocked," he said.