Neighbour steps in after tooth fairy cannot find £1 for Scottish child's missing tooth

It seems lockdown’s cashless culture is impacting on even the tooth fairy.

A woman who discovered she had no change in her house when her son lost his tooth was saved by a neighbour who stepped in to act as the tooth fairy.

Liz Salvin, who lives in Blackford, Edinburgh, searched her home top to bottom on Saturday night in a desperate bid to find a £1 coin to give her 10-year-old son Harry after he lost his tooth.

But after no luck, the single mum posted an urgent plea on Facebook community group The Meadows Share asking if anyone in the area had a spare £1 to give.

Harry's tooth and the £1 coin Natalie dropped off for him on his doorstep picture: supplied

Luckily the response was overwhelmingly positive and neighbour Natalie Homer, who lives in the same area, was able to come to the rescue late last night.

"I haven't been using cash during lockdown and the only coins I had after searching the house were 2p and 5p pieces,” Liz said.

"Harry reminded me, with a knowing nod before he went to bed, that he got a pound last time from the tooth fairy.

"The tooth fairy, Natalie Homer, has now been and we have a shiny one pound coin – the tooth fairy lives on.”

Liz said her young boy is oblivious to the fuss that has been made around him and his tooth since he lost it.

"If he has stopped believing he is definitely not ready to admit it yet," Liz said.

"I just wasn't ready to test that out. And anyway, now I know that the tooth fairy really does exist. So he is right after all.”

In return for her kind gesture, Liz left Peruvian coffee and some luxury M&S teabags on her doorstep for Natalie to pick up in exchange for the £1 coin.

“When she came she left the coin on the doormat and retreated a bit,” Liz said.

"I waited until she had moved away a bit before opening the door so it was a safe socially-distanced handover."

Natalie, who works at Edinburgh University and who has two sons of her own, said she was “delighted” to have been able to help Liz in her predicament.

"I saw Liz’s post and just thought I live nearby and can easily step in as the tooth fairy for the evening," Natalie said, still smiling about the unusual request.

"At first I saw on her message that she was a single mum and couldn’t leave the house to get cash.

"I have been a single parent before and I know how tough it is when you can't pop out to do things easily, so I wanted to help. She was just nearby anyway.”

Natalie said after not making it outside herself that day, she was happy to sneak around and leave the £1 coin on Liz's doorstep.

"I don’t know Liz, but it was nice to be able to help her out.

"The Meadows Share is a great group like that. There are all sorts of little lovely things that people ask for and do for each other, it's great to see and lovely to be part of.

"One thing that made me laugh was my mum saw I had been up late on our family WhatsApp group and she asked 'what were you doing up so late?’ to which I replied: ‘I was busy being the tooth fairy.”

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