Two Dumfries TikTok stars have now donated more than 4,000 toys to charities this Christmas.
Cole and Abbie Howat, who are social media influencers with more than three million followers, bought and distributed toys to LIFT D&G, the council’s social work department and Lochside Community Centre/Grub Club as well as to Quarriers in Glasgow.
Abbie said: “We donated to multiple charities two years ago for Christmas and decided this was the year to do it again. This year we’d hoped to go even bigger and we absolutely did this.
“The support people have shown us over the past year has been incredible. Being able to do this is such an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and accomplishment. For as long as we are in a position to be able to do this we will continue.
“When we started social media it was just for a bit of fun during lockdown to keep us busy. We have been so blessed to make it to where we are on social media platforms which in turn has not only changed our lives but enabled us to help many others.
“My wife Cole and I buy mystery boxes and do live videos online of us opening them, these can range from house items to children’s toys.
“We donate all the contents of our boxes to numerous charities and community centres.
“People following and commenting on our pages allow us to make an income which has now helped us to continue donating to charities.”
The project co-ordinator at Lochside Community Centre/Grub Club, Karen Wylie was “delighted” to receive the donations.
She said: “Cole and Abbie have been fabulous with lots of donations which allows us to be able to give children and adults that little helping hand, not just at Christmas but throughout the year as well which is so much appreciated in our community.
“The Howats have kind hearts , thinking of others that may be struggling, especially at this time of year. We are just so grateful that we are in a position to help people out due to their amazing donations.”
Angela Gilmour, managing director of LIFT D&G, added: “They made a lovely donation for children at Christmas. We hold a Christmas Gift from LIFT every year and also have a Christmas Day dinner so the gifts we receive from businesses and organisations help with demand we have at this time of year.
