St Andrews Toastie Shack Donating Seagull Insurance Money to Dundee Baby

Earlier this month, the owners of St Andrews’ Cheesy Toast Shack announced via the business’s Facebook page that, for the month of February, the money earned from their £1 ‘seagull insurance’ scheme will go directly to the family of Dundee baby Imogen Reid after suffering two brain haemorrhages.

Shania Reid, Imogen’s mother, told The Courier that, just days after welcoming her daughter in September 2025, she noticed that Imogen was having small seizures. Baby Reid was tested for meningitis and sepsis, though Shania said she “knew it wasn’t an infection.”

“I don’t know how to explain that other than I’m a mum, and a mother’s gut is never wrong,” she said.

After receiving a brain scan, Imogen was eventually diagnosed with a Grade 3 intraventricular brain haemorrhage. Shania said that her “head circumference was getting bigger due to increased pressure in the brain. I think it grew two centimetres in three days.”

Imogen and her family were sent to Edinburgh for treatment, where Imogen was quickly taken in for a procedure to “relieve the pressure and get a ventricular access device put in her brain.”

“She had a second bleed because they tried to irrigate the first bleed. She nearly died because she lost so much blood due to the bleed being so big,” Shania said.

Following these complications, Imogen was found to have suffered moderate brain damage, meaning that she has “evolving cerebral palsy” and is likely to develop symptoms as a result.

“The consultants in the neurosurgical team and the neurology team have said that it doesn’t necessarily reflect her. A child could have a scan that’s awful and be absolutely fine, or have a scan that’s great but actually the child isn’t cognitively well,” Shania said. “We just don’t know how she’ll be.”

After discovering Imogen’s story, The Cheesy Toast Shack, run by Kate Carter-Larg and Sam Larg, took to the business’s Facebook page to say, “Imogen’s parents, and her big brother Miller, are asking for help, and we’d love to help raise money for them through this month’s seagull insurance.”

Kate and Sam first launched the now-famous seagull insurance in August 2024 in an effort to protect customers from seagulls surrounding the business’s East Sands location, who are known for snatching food straight from customers’ hands.

In a 2024 interview, Carter-Larg told The Saint that “in the height of summer, they would see around thirty attacks in a single day.”

“We would always just run out and say have it again on us. A lot of people, since it all came out, have said that [it] is ridiculous and not very business-minded, but we have always felt that if we give out good vibes and good karma [...] you get good energy back and people know you and the team for being that way inclined,” Carter-Larg said.

However, as this began to cost the business hundreds of pounds a day, the owners came up with a better solution. “It was getting to the point where we thought maybe if we offer this optional £1 spend, we could protect ourselves and the customers.”

Customers are now able to spend an extra £1 for seagull insurance, allowing them to claim a free replacement should their food be stolen by seagulls. Over the following fourteen months, this effort quickly became charitable, with the Cheesy Toast Shack donating the money earned from their seagull insurance to a different charity each month, including Gaza Infant Nutrition Alliance (GINA), Edinburgh Transplant Unit, and Storehouse St Andrews Foodbank.

Now, the Carter-Larg couple are donating February’s seagull insurance funds to the Reid family, writing on Facebook, “If you can help to donate by spending just £1 more with us when you visit, it’ll all go directly to the Reid family for little Imogen.”

In addition to the Cheesy Toast Shack donation, Imogen’s mother has also set up a fundraiser on JustGiving, with the initial goal of raising £4,500 to “help to financially afford the best possible outcome for Imogen.”

Shania shared more of Imogen’s story on the fundraiser’s website, saying, “Imogen may well develop normally, we just don’t know. However, as a family, we must do what we can to ensure we give her the best chance.”

The family have since raised more than 136% of their original goal on JustGiving, so far receiving a total of £6,160 from over 250 supporters, with the number growing each day.

Shania closed her JustGiving message by saying, “Please do what you can. Share. Donate. Talk about Imogen. Spread awareness. We are eternally grateful.”

(Link to Imogen’s JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/shaina-reid?utm_medium=CF&utm_source=CL)