A PAIR of shipyard workers from Port Glasgow made £90,000 selling snacks to their workmates — and gave it all away to charity.

Charlie Douglas started helping his manager Robert Osborne run a tuckshop in Rosyth Dockyard after recovering from a heart attack.

Together they built up a roaring trade and helped support charities both in Inverclyde and across the country.

In their latest act of kindness Charlie has handed £3,000 to Kathleen Orr, the mum of 10-year-old ice skater Jayden, who tragically collapsed and died suddenly last August.

Charlie and Robert want to support the Orr family’s Tele-backed Show Some Heart campaign to buy defibrillators for all schools in Inverclyde.

Charlie, 61, said: “We are just delighted to help wherever we can.

“When I read about Jayden in the Tele we decided we wanted to help.

“Kathleen’s face when I turned up at the charity shop was worth it all.

“Obviously with having had a heart attack I am all too aware of the importance of defibrillators.”

Shipyard worker Charlie explained how he turned his ill health into a force for good.

He said: “I was on my way to work when I took a heart attack on the bus and my workmates took me to the hospital.

“I was later transferred to the Golden Jubilee to get stents put in.

“When I came back to work they had to put me on light duties and my boss and friend Robert suggested I help him in the painters’ amenities doing a janitor-type role.”

In between that the pair built up the tuck shop for the large workforce at the dockyard.

Charlie said: “The money we made we then gave to all different charities.

“We gave a lot of the money to the children’s hospice CHAS but we helped people wherever we could.

“We wanted to help a mum who was raising money for a wheelchair for her wee boy.

“We donated £3,000 but when we turned up we were told they needed £6,000, so I took the cheque back and changed the amount.

“It was great to be able to do that.”

Charlie and Robert are both painters and have worked all their days in the yards.

Charlie is one of hundreds of local workers who travelled to Rosyth Dockyard when the aircraft carriers were being built for the MoD.

Every day he served up food to the 1,900 strong workforce.

He added: “I was told I could go back to work but it would have to be light duties and Robert suggested that I started selling rolls. 

“I was running eight fridges and making up 750 rolls a week and we decided we would give the money we made to charity.”

Sadly the charity enterprise has now come to an end after Charlie, from Octavia Walk, and Robert, from Lilybank, were made redundant.

They were among hundreds of workers laid off just four days before Christmas.

In a double blow Robert is also in Inverclyde Royal for a heart bypass.

Charlie added: “It is shame that it has all come to an end because we really enjoyed doing this.”

Jayden’s mum Kathleen says she is so grateful for the donation handed in by Charlie for the campaign in memory of her son.

She said: “I couldn’t believe it when he handed me the money. That is enough for two defibrillators. It was an incredible gesture.”

Show Some Heart is a Tele-backed campaign to raise money for a defibrillator in every school in Inverclyde in Jayden’s memory.

To donate towards the £50,000 target visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/kerri-lynn-2