Kingholm Quay toddler's pebbles raise funds for NHS
A toddler living near Dumfries has turned pebble collecting on her daily walk into a fundraiser for the NHS.
Beatrice George, who is 20 months old, started gathering the stones around her Kingholm Quay home at the beginning of lockdown. Since then she has raised more than £24,000 with her "sponsored pretty pebble hunt". She has also gathered celebrity support messages from the likes of Stephen Fry and Dame Judi Dench. Her father Matthew said it had all started near the beginning of lockdown. "Beatrice has enjoyed picking up pebbles at the harbour ever since she started walking really," he said. "But the fundraising really began during the second month of lockdown after seeing what Capt Sir Tom Moore achieved in raising over £30m for NHS Charities Together. "We thought we would try to raise a simple target of £50." They set up a Justgiving page and after posting about it on social media the donations came in "pretty quickly". "We decided to base the fundraising idea on collecting pebbles because Beatrice just likes to take an interest in every single pebble she picks up," Mr George said. "She will look at it closely, she will play with it a little while and then she will pop it into her basket. "Occasionally, my wife and I will find pebbles in our shoes, under cushions on the sofa - but that's all part of being a toddler, isn't it, finding things and then hiding them for your parents to find later on?" Mr George said people had been "really, really kind" with their donations and the campaign had also secured support from a wide range of celebrities. "She has had video messages from Dame Judi Dench, Stephen Fry, Miriam Margolyes, Chesney Hawkes, John Barrowman, Ben Fogle, Ray Parker Jr who sang Ghostbusters and Mike Bushell from BBC Breakfast," he said. "People are continuing to donate and ultimately Beatrice is still having lots and lots of fun picking up pebbles - something which I am pretty sure she will continue to do."