Woman Who Arranged Whip-Round For Thomas Cook Staff Says She Wanted To Show Appreciation

The kind-hearted passenger who organised a whip-round for Thomas Cook staff on her flight from Las Vegas has said she wanted to 'show her appreciation'.

Ashleigh MacLennan grabbed two pillowcases and urged fellow passengers to dig deep for the flight's staff who had just found out they had lost their jobs. How sweet is that, eh?

Thirty-one-year-old Ashleigh, from Glasgow, was on a flight to Manchester from Las Vegas when the captain announced that Thomas Cook had collapsed, and said that cabin crew wouldn't be getting paid.

So, hairdresser Ashleigh decided she would try and get some cash for the staff.

She explained: "I took two of the Thomas Cook pillowcases and wrote on them, 'whip-round for our amazing crew'. I sent one to the front of the plane and one to the back and everyone happily contributed."

Ashleigh says the 'emotional crew' had told passengers there was 'some uncertainty with regards to the airline' when their flight took off.

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"But then towards the end of the flight the crew updated passengers that Thomas Cook had in fact ceased trading in the early hours of the morning," Ashleigh added.

"The captain then came on to thank the crew but explain that they wouldn't be getting paid.

"They were so upset, it was heart-breaking to see. That's when I felt it was only right that we showed our appreciation."

And passengers were more than happy to oblige with both pillowcases quickly filling up with people's left-over dollars as well as pounds.

Yesterday a passenger wrote on social media to say that £5,000 had been collected, but Ashleigh says she wasn't aware how much there was, adding: "We didn't count up how much money we'd collected but both pillowcases were full. When I handed them over to the flight manager she was crying and hugged me so tight."

She says she was shocked to learn that company, which was established 178 years ago, had collapsed.

"We knew they were in a bit of bother but not to that extent," Ashleigh added. "It was awful but when we gave them our collection the crew were all just so grateful and made an emotional thank you to everyone."

Topics: Daily Ladness, Community, UK

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19