A DOTING grand-daughter is collecting Christmas gifts for residents at Canmore Lodge care home in Dunfermline in memory of her gran.

Although Ashley Nimmo won’t be able to buy a present this year for her gran Margaret Livingstone, who died in July, she hopes she can put a smile on the faces of the elderly folks who lived alongside her in a very challenging year.

So far 46 gifts have been donated, ranging from boxes of chocolates and Wordsearch books to slippers and larger gift sets, and the mum-of-four hopes they’ll soon have enough presents for all 68 residents.

Ashley told the Press: “It’s all still very raw but my gran passed away in July and Canmore Lodge were just amazing with her. I’ve been without her for four months now and I just thought 'What can I do to help the care home?'

“My first thought was that I could get a few gifts for those who don’t have much but I put a post on my social media page and it just went crazy! Even someone down in England was asking how they could help and advised me to set up an Amazon wishlist.

"So I have started to get a nice wee pile now and I think we’ll get enough for all of the residents. I just can’t believe the kindness of people!”

Margaret spent the last 14 months of her life in the memory unit at Canmore and died from dementia aged 79. Although the home has managed to stay Covid free, the impact of restrictions meant that her family didn’t see her for five months.

Ashley added: “The residents have had a terrible year with Covid. I was allowed to see my gran right at the end but we didn’t really have any proper contact with her at all.

"It’s so hard for everyone and that’s why we want to put a smile on people’s faces in memory of my gran. We were very close and she was such a loving and caring person.

“Canmore did their best for us with window visits and Skype calls but we felt that we’ve missed out on five months with gran.

"It was hard to explain why we weren’t there and while there was still that recognition of her family, it went quickly downhill in those five months.”

Ashley thanked the Joe Cardle Academy for their donations and Shield Fife for their offer of help.

You can donate by visiting the Amazon wishlist on this link: https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/nNyyC71xxirWAkRcWB397 or you can email Ashley: ashlightfoot@live.co.uk. Please don’t wrap presents so that staff can see the items and only use gift bags and boxes.