A grieving couple whose son was stillborn have given a special gift back to the people who helped them through their traumatic experience.

Lynn and Colin Carruthers embarked on a fundraising campaign which saw them raise more than £5000 for The Lola Commons fund for the Lola Commons fund for SiMBA, a charity who help families cope with the ordeal of stillbirth and preserve memories of their children.

After their son Jake was stillborn in January, the couple began to raise funds and they were able to purchase a new cuddle cot for the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley which will benefit numerous other families in similar situations.

Read more: Glasgow woman tells of stillbirth agony: "Even though I won't see him grow up, I've still got the memories"

Lynn, 32, from Johnstone, in Renfrewshire, said: “The fundraising really gave us something to focus on.

“We didn’t have an opportunity to use the Cuddle Cot in the hospital because sadly it was in use so we thought it would be quite fitting if we raised money to buy another one.

“When I looked online, I found out that they aren’t funded by the NHS, so they’re not as widely available.”

Cuddle cots, often referred to as cold cots, provide parents with precious time to spend as a family.

“Because we knew before he was born that Jake had died, I was very clear that I didn’t want to keep going back and seeing him. I wanted to have some time with him when he was born and that was it, and my husband was in agreement. But for some families I understand they want to spend a bit more time and we want to give people that option.”

As part of the fundraising, Colin, 34, and the couple's son Dillan, six, climbed Ben Lomond raising the cash needed to fund the cot in just two days. The pair made it up and down in five and a half hours with Dillan providing some much-needed motivation along the way.

Lynn added: “We show Dillan pictures of Jake because we want him to know that he was real and did exist.

Read more: Glasgow woman tells of stillbirth agony: "Even though I won't see him grow up, I've still got the memories"

“We talk about him every day and Dillan draws little pictures. He tells me he misses Jake - thankfully he was a little bit young to understand the severity it all.”

After being put in touch with SiMBA, the family were introduced to the Lola Commons Fund, set up by Lisa Hague and her partner Celtic player Kris Commons in honour of their stillborn daughter Lola.

Any money raised by the Carruthers will continue to go towards the Lola Commons Fund, which is raising money for specialist family rooms within hospitals and other important equipment, including cuddle cots, for families in the same unfortunate situation.

Lisa, who is now a SiMBA Ambassador, said: “The one thing that drew me to SiMBA was the fact that Kris and I didn’t get to hold Lola. We didn’t get a great amount of encouragement to do so and the hospital we were in didn’t have cuddle cots.

“I’ve never met parents that held their baby and regretted it but I’ve met lots of parents, like myself, that didn’t hold their baby and regretted it so we wanted to make sure everyone has the opportunity to do so.”

The fund are aiming to get two cuddle cots in each hospital and while continuing to raise awareness about of the taboo subject.