“It can be so scary for a tiny kid with no possessions, and it always touched her heart. She always just wanted to make sure kids had something to cuddle.”
Fiona White is honouring her late mother Catherine Murray’s wish to donate her collection of soft toys to Refuweegee, to help make sure every child has something to cuddle.
A dying woman’s last wish to donate toys to refugee children in Glasgow has been fulfilled.
Fiona White is donating boxes of Jellycats, teddy bears, and handmade toys to Glasgow’s Refuweegee, to complete one of her mum Catherine Murray’s final wishes before she died in November last year aged 90.
Catherine made clear in her final moments it was important to make sure refugee children had toys to brighten up their day with.
Fiona told Glasgow Live: “She wrote poems all the time and was a prolific writer. She loved children, and she loved writing things for children.
“When she got hold of a new toy, she would give it a name and then she would write a poem about it and then take a photo. Once she got enough of them all gathered, she would make them into a little book for kids, which she called ‘My Pals’.
“Then she used to go to the local printer and get them made and bound, and then she would give them away to kids. She’d be out and about and always had a copy with her. Any time she saw a kid, she’d give them a book.
“She was an amazing character and everybody just loved her.”
Catherine, who was more commonly known as Kay, lived in Largs for years before spending three months living at the Ailsa Craig Nursing Home in Cessnock.
There, Fiona says the “fantastic” staff described her as a “superstar”. Sadly, Catherine’s stay at the home only lasted three months before she passed.
Catherine was adamant the toys had to be given to refugee children – something always close to her heart.
“She had a great life, my mum, she was very sparky up until the last wee while when she went downhill quite quickly with dementia,” Fiona added.
“She would always have one of these dolls with her, she was always holding on to them.
“She used to always say to me ‘Fiona, when you’re not here, please make sure these get given to refugee children’. She was very specific about that.
“My mum always thought about other people before herself and always thought about kids. It was heartbreaking for her to see kids on boats coming into the country and being herded about.
“It can be so scary for a tiny kid with no possessions, and it always touched her heart. She always just wanted to make sure kids had something to cuddle.”
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Fiona believes her mum would be “delighted” to see the toys end up in the hands of refugee children, and plans to drop them off very soon.
More information about Refuweegee can be found on their website here.