A Dumfries couple raised a staggering £31,000 for charity in just one night.
Abbie and Cole Howat stage fun events online at TikTok to help boost people’s spirits during lockdown and decided to gather donations for the LGBT Foundation.
And last Friday the pair put on a 12-hour live event with other TikTok users and collected £21,900 before the social media giants pledged another £10,000 for the cause.
Abbie, 31, and Cole, 29, own Mrs Howat’s Vintage Barbers shop in Dumfries which they opened three years ago.
They staged a fundraising event before Christmas to pay for gifts for underprivileged children and also give donations to women’s refuges.
Abbie said: “We do silly videos of us pranking each other, although more recently my wife and I have just started IVF treatment to have a child and we have made a couple of videos of that adventure.
“However, last Friday we decided to do a 12-hour event with other users and raise money for the LGBT Foundation.
“We have 600,000 followers from all over the country and also abroad including a lot of people from Australia, Canada and America.
“So last week we did lots of things such as food challenges with people. I ate Weetabix with chilli powder on it and also ate cold baked beans.
“I must admit I was nearly sick and did gag at times. But it was worth it.
“We raised £21,900 and TikTok match anything up to £10,000 for good causes so the LGBT Foundation were shocked to get more than £30,000.”
She added: “We started our TikTok videos to try and help people who are on their own in lockdown without family and friends to talk to.
“There’s a massive amount of people in lockdown on their own and we do this mainly to support them with their mental health.
“We started doing live stuff and because of the pranks and silly videos we have quite a mixed following from seven-year-olds who love the pranks up to people aged 80 years old which is great.
“We have plans for a few more things in the future and there’s definitely events in the pipeline.”
