Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Ralph Coutts: Fundraiser drama for family of Angus litter picking hero

litter picking Angus
Ralph Coutts.

Leading environmentalist Ralph Coutts encouraged an army of Angus litter pickers before his sudden death last year.

But there was panic among the group when a Facebook fundraiser page to continue his life’s work cleaning up Angus was suddenly taken down without explanation.

Nearly £1,500 had been donated in just two days.

Niece Elaine Carlin said: “We don’t know what happened. We have tried to contact Facebook but have had no luck. It’s difficult to talk to an actual person with them, it seems.”

Determined not to lose the momentum, a fresh fundraiser has been set up on Gofundme instead.

The initial £1,500 has all been refunded.

Now, in a matter of hours, generous supporters have raised more than £300.

The cash will go to the St Vigeans Conservation Network, which Ralph was heavily involved in.

A sand art tribute to Ralph at St Andrews Links by friend

It will allow Ralph’s litter picking work to continue in Angus.

Elaine added: “What better way to honour Ralph and the legacy he left us with than to raise much needed funds for the group he was so passionate about?

“He got to work and become the driving force behind conservation in the area [St Vigeans].

“He was dumbfounded that there were people out there who did not appreciate the importance of nature and the animals that relied on their environment.”

The man who cleaned up Angus

Ralph Coutts was well known across Tayside and Fife and encouraged many to pick up sticks and clear beauty spots of litter.

He also carried out litter picking with Angus Clean Environments.

His sudden death aged just 53 shocked those around him. He had been cycling on the path between Arbroath and East Haven in May 2020 when he suddenly fell over.

Tributes poured in for Ralph following his death.

Long-time friend George Park described him as a “really special guy”.

Dozens of friends and family formed a cortege outside Dundee Crematorium at his funeral, despite not being able to attend the indoor ceremony because of coronavirus restrictions.

A Pictish stone carved by David McGovern was placed at St Vigeans earlier this year in his honour.

A Facebook spokesman said they are investigating why the fundraiser was taken down.