How the loss of a daughter inspire a lifeline for Dundee families
She told BBC Scotland News her perspective on life has changed completely since the loss of Freya."The things I once used to fret over and get stressed about, they're just not relevant anymore."Nobody is promised tomorrow so we need to live now and make the most of every single minute we have, and make it beautiful."Brooke recalled that Freya was a generous and compassionate child, who once donated all her toys to a charity that recycled them for kids who had less."She had such a big heart. Her spark, her character… she had it right to a T. We should all be like that."
A day that changed everything
The pain of losing Freya has not faded for Brooke."I definitely think it gets harder. People move on and start to focus on their own lives again, and they forget. But for me, it feels like yesterday."She remembers the day Freya died began as a warm, carefree summer outing during the 2020 lockdown. Nothing seemed dangerous and there were no signs warning visitors of risks."We were having a great day out, playing in the Fairy Pools. What we weren't aware of was that currents change at certain points of the day. "When we were in the water, out of nowhere, a current came and dragged me and Freya down, under the waterfall."She believes better education and resources about the dangers of natural waters could save lives."Especially in Scotland, we're known for our beautiful destinations and natural waters. But we are not taught much about water safety."
Freya's Wish was founded in September 2020, just months after the tragedy, and Brooke threw herself into the work as a way to cope with her loss.What began as a personal tribute has grown into a community space where Brooke says "people can be who they want to be without judgement"."If somebody needs my support in any way, whether it's me helping them or passing them on to someone else who can, it's an open door."She says memories of good times with her daughter became her motivation and drove her desire for other families to have that same chance.
Freystival - a way to remember
It has even inspired Freystival. A family-friendly community festival that aims to be affordable."Things are expensive now and people have to work crazy hours to afford anything that feels like a luxury," she explains."There are financial barriers for families to create magical days. Most people don't have £400 to spend on a festival with their family."This year's event is taking place at Mains Castle in Dundee on Friday and Brooke says she can picture exactly how her daughter would react to it."I think Freya would be absolutely buzzing. She was stuck to me like glue."She always wanted to be involved and do what's right, so she would be in awe if she was here today."
Living with loss
For Brooke, Freya's Wish has become a place where Brooke can continue to be a mother to her daughter, even in a different way."You have to find the inner strength to share their soul and their love."Brooke believes love and community are at the heart of healing."Most people in life suffer in some way, but it's about looking at it differently. We're all suffering, but if we were in this together, sharing love and supporting each other, we would all win in life."Love is the core of everything we do."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
4 hours ago
- Times
Class snobbery is at heart of NHS gender war
Outside the tribunal in Dundee, Jane Russell KC, stopped to pet a border collie. 'Would that be a female dog or a male dog?' asked a mischievous Scot. Russell laughed nervously. 'Ha-HAH! Well, I don't know. How would you know?' she mumbled, then darted into the building. Does Russell, a keen horsewoman who celebrated taking silk by galloping through London on a steed called Jupiter, really believe biological sex is 'complicated', that babies — and, presumably, dogs and horses — are randomly 'assigned' male or female at birth by a midwife/vet? Or is this just fashionable sophistry she deploys to defend her clients NHS Fife and the trans-identified male doctor Beth Upton? Certainly for Sandie Peggie this postmodern conceit is no joke. A nurse for 30 years, she was suspended, put through internal disciplinary hearings and at this tribunal has endured scrutiny of every intimate matter, from her menstrual cycle to whether she loves her lesbian daughter, just for upholding a basic truth: sex is real. Of all such cases — and I've followed many — none encapsulates the shibboleths, snobberies and magical thinking of our age so well. Day after day we heard doctors and managers of Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, relate how they unashamedly closed ranks against a working-class nurse, whose rights, feelings or even basic humanity fell beyond their #BeKind purview. It started on Christmas Eve 2023, when Peggie rushed to the female changing rooms, fearing that a sudden menstrual flood — a common occurrence around menopause — had soaked her scrubs. When Dr Upton entered, Peggie says she told him he was making her feel uncomfortable and asked him to leave. But this incident, which sparked almost two years of litigation, isn't the most shocking. Twice before, Peggie had come in to change, seen Upton, turned around and waited outside until he left. She'd said nothing, just declined to undress in front of him. But Upton reported her anyway and — amazingly — his line manager Dr Kate Searle took his side: 'Beth felt uncomfortable with someone behaving differently like that.' Even silent dissent wouldn't do. The only acceptable course of action was for Peggie to tamp down her embarrassment and strip — only then could a six-foot-tall man's belief that he is a woman remain intact. Did Searle ask Peggie how she felt? 'I didn't make that approach.' Instead, after Christmas, Searle sat down with Upton and filled in an official complaint in which (she has admitted on oath) she incorrectly asserted that Peggie had compared him to the trans rapist Isla Bryson. Then, against all disciplinary protocol, Searle emailed other doctors to rally support for Upton, telling them to avoid 'foot in mouth' misspeaks which might stop Peggie, who was instantly suspended, being punished. Each day we learnt new ways in which senior hospital staff had persecuted a nurse with a flawless record. Jamie Doyle, head of nursing, wanted Peggie reported to the police. Upton claimed to have noted earlier incidents in which Peggie's hostility towards him had endangered patients. But no one corroborated these grave claims and an IT expert who analysed Upton's phone testified that these were not contemporaneous notes but added after the Christmas Eve row. (Peggie was cleared of these and other allegations in a separate hospital disciplinary inquiry.) Why did all of these senior people fall over themselves to take Upton's side, even at the expense of truth? Because trans identity tops an all-important oppression hierarchy and the purest form of virtue is being a 'trans ally'. To prove this, both the head of diversity, Isla Bumba, and Searle, an A&E consultant, claimed neither knew Upton's sex, or even their own. 'I've never had my chromosomes tested,' said Bumba. Does Searle do this before prescribing the correct drug dosage for a female patient? Of course not. No one really believes such absurdity: they mouth it out of religious obeisance. At the base of that purity pyramid are women like Sandie Peggie: boring, menopausal, the ancillary people who confront biological sex in every backside they wipe. Working-class Peggie doesn't hold the received opinions: Russell scoured a seven-year-long private Facebook group of nurses Peggie had holidayed with to find that she'd reposted horrible jokes about the Pakistani floods, is against sharia and illegal migration, and was initially upset that her daughter was gay. The notion was: this 'bigot' doesn't merit rights. But just as a black person who makes antisemitic jokes or a trans woman who posts 'Die in a fire, TERF' still deserve protection against discrimination or violence, Peggie, whatever her views, has the right to undress at work without being watched by a man. Now the Peggie tribunal evidence has concluded, the judgment will come later this year and she is predicted to receive a substantial payout. But the case of the Darlington nurses — who also objected to a man changing with them — is scheduled for a full tribunal in October; a similar case involving a Muslim nurse is pending, while Jennifer Melle, a black nurse who was racially abused by a trans-identifying male paedophile in police custody because she referred to him as 'Mister', is still suspended by Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals Trust. Four months after the Supreme Court clarified the meaning of sex, it is an outrage that public money is still being squandered while women fight for basic rights. Why does the Health and Safety Executive not remind employers of 1992 workplace laws which mandate single-sex changing? Why are NHS England and the NHS Confederation allowed by the health secretary, Wes Streeting, to drag their feet? The ludicrous joke that sex is an unfathomable mystery has worn very thin.
BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
Orkney farmer plans trailer abattoir to end lengthy trips
An Orkney farmer is part-funding her own abattoir so her rare breed Boreray sheep no longer have to be taken on a seven-hour trip to the mainland for islands have been without a slaughter house since 2018 but Jane Cooper says she hopes to have her Tiny Trailer Abattoir - the first of its kind in the UK - by next will fit on two trailers - one for the humane slaughter of the sheep and the second to store and chill up to 20 carcasses. The trailer system can be operated by one slaughterman. It will be able to move between farms around the islands, but each place it operates will have to comply with all regulations and be licensed separately as if it was a fixed island abattoirs are now able to use local vets to fulfil the role of official veterinarian supervising the process. Rural abattoirs across the UK are shutting down at an alarming rate. According to industry reports, more than a third have closed in the past two decades due to high running costs, retaining skilled staff and increased regulation. Ms Cooper said the ability to slaughter sheep on her own farm would greatly improve animal welfare standards."At the moment, I have to transport the animals on a ferry and then drive them to Dingwall," she said."It's a seven-hour trip. I'd rather walk them a few steps from the field and into a trailer."She added that her system would produce almost no waste."We will be able to use many more byproducts than just the skins and horns that we collect from the abattoir in Dingwall," she is funding up to half the £150,000 herself, with the rest coming from another expects the trailers will be on her farm by springtime next year. Ms Cooper has been farming her distinctive sheep on the Orkney mainland since animals are descendants of native sheep from Boreray island in St 2017, they were registered as a distinctive breed in their own flocks are now established in Orkney which work together through the Orkney Boreray Co-op Tiny Trailer Abattoir will be owned, operated and hired out by the Co-op on a not-for-profit basis. Ms Cooper said the design was a new concept in the UK but she was confident it would be a success."The butchers we already supply are confident their customers will be more than happy to pay an extra premium for our mutton once the sheep are slaughtered on our farm," she said."We are transitioning our farm business here at Burnside from mostly breeding to bringing in and finishing Orkney Boreray sheep bred and reared by other members of the Co-op."
BBC News
11 hours ago
- BBC News
Discussions on future of Isle of Man Family Library ongoing
Discussions to rescue a struggling family library and its mobile services are ongoing, it has been Isle of Man's Family Library closed its doors on Thursday after directors said it was expected make losses of £100,000 due to rising costs and declining attached to the exterior of the facility on the Westmoreland Road site in Douglas has now been taken down.A spokesman for the charity confirmed that a new team of directors had teamed up with the facility's staff in a bid to revive the services in future through a "combination of private backers and government funding". More than £8,700 has been donated to a fundraiser set up by volunteer group The Friends of the Family Library, who previously described the service as "a lifeline".The library had offered activities to young people, schools and adults, as well as operating a mobile library in rural areas and a home service for those who are services have been run as an independent charity since full funding was pulled by the Department of Education in 2011 in response to a reduction in the island's VAT government agreed to a five-year funding plan on a sliding scale in 2022, beginning with £125,000 in August of that year, with the final sum of £65,000 due to be awarded in August 2026 for use until July 2027. In response to a written question during the May sitting of Tynwald, it was confirmed there were no plans to fund the community library from the education department's in June, Tynwald members backed Treasury Minister's Alex Allinson's proposal for the Council of Ministers to work with the charity to consider available options, after getting an understanding its financial the time a spokesman for the library said those behind the facility had been "encouraged by the growing recognition among local politicians of the library's value and an urgent need for a sustainable funding model".However, he said it would be "irresponsible for us to continue beyond 31 July without being able to guarantee the necessary funding to operate for the following 12 months". Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
