DOUGLAS McLAUGHLAN

We are raising funds to celebrate & commemorate

DOUG x CAT what ever that might mean…

Its currently a delicate situation

If you know you know!

Anybody wanting to celebrate Doug & Cat’s life and the different breed they truly were to the scene…

There will be a huge celebration once things have settled down, in the chaotic way they both would have loved, along with a bench put in at their happy place, HYDE PARK SKATEPARK!

We are all going to bless the fuck out of it!

BLESSEYE x

UPDATE 26/7/25

All of you will be thanked personally, some of you multiple times as you put donations in for those that handed you cash.

Doug’s untimely death & the things that happened afterwards to him, those of us closest to him were & will remain to a degree a disgraceful ‘if you know you know’ situation & things were unnecessarily dragged out.

Doug didn’t suddenly become a flawless person in death but he definitely deserved so much more respect than he got in the hours, days & weeks afterwards from certain people.

There’s so much I could say & prove.…but many of you are already aware of the nastiness & after this necessary update, it will be nothing but positive going forwards.

To clarify, this GoFundMe was never set up for funeral expenses or to give money to certain individuals & that was very diplomatically worded both on Instagram & here.

If anyone, after reading the below feels they want their money to go Doug’s remaining sibling or have their money go towards reimbursing Bradford Council Financial Protection team for the cost of Doug’s public health funeral - let me know & I’ll quietly refund you or pay your donation to Bradford Council Financial Protection team in your name.

The intention always was & remains to celebrate & commemorate Doug.

The inclusion of Cath - the flip side of the Doug coin especially later in life - was because after her untimely death in January 2025 she wasn’t celebrated, the funeral home wasn’t visited by many, she didn’t have an ashes burial & she was somewhat forgotten except by those closest to her before her death & Doug - it seems many were not even aware she had tragically passed.

Even her ashes weren’t wanted for fear of individuals turning up at people’s houses, so she came home with me with Doug’s blessing.

In amongst the absolutely beautiful outpouring of love for Doug as news of his death was quickly spreading, there were possible GFM’s being considered & what could have been hastily done gatherings in Doug’s name.

As understandable as people wanting to acknowledge his death & be empathetic & show that by GoFundMe’s etc, as the people closest to Doug we knew the coroner process & police investigation including the theft of the phone I bought for him while he lay dead, would take time.

We also needed to wait & see what moves Doug’s remaining two relatives - sister & nephew would make.

So, this was set up to avoid confusion & ensure money was focused for purely celebrating Doug & it be protected.

Doug mattered & that didn’t change because he was dead..

Doug’s feelings mattered!

Doug’s thoughts mattered!

Doug’s wishes mattered!

We knew what all those were & we tried so hard to have them respected & will continue to do so.

This GFM wasn’t to reimburse me for Cath’s death related expenses or other expenses relating to Cath, supporting Doug or my having given people peace paying the funeral directors on a credit card, when no-one stepped up for Cath to be collected from the hospital morgue (when Doug was devastated & barely functioning) nor offered a penny for her be cared for by a funeral director & the difference given to anyone.

A deal that was disgracefully proposed to me & was encouraged by others weeks prior to the eventual Bradford Council funded pauper funeral for Doug & was rejected.

“Take what you’re owed & give (the sibling) the difference as next of kin”

Your money is not being used to settle things owed by others who happily blamed Doug after his death.

Nor is it lining mine or J’s pockets as Doug’s remaining sibling & her absolute cretin (a word Doug used to describe him & I enjoy) of a boyfriend keep saying & posting amongst other disgusting abuse & threats.

This fund is safe, there is a paper trail & receipts already have been & will continue to be shared with a trusted friend of Doug’s.

This fund is about celebrating Doug (& remembering Cath) not paying for things other people are morally & legally responsible for, have the means to pay for, but whose priorities are seemingly skewed.

Nor will the fund just be giving the sibling cash or anything.

Cath is legally with me & Doug was the last I heard with his sibling & her boyfriend as some of you are aware & have seen the disgusting messages.

It’s my hope that eventually the unmarked grave of their mum June & brother Billy after many many years of neglect will finally be dealt with by the remaining 2 relatives & that Cath & Doug (who paid those two funerals, including the grave plot & each still had debt collectors chasing them until their deaths) will be legally interred with a relatives funded proper cemetery agreed headstone & it be a place people can go pay their respects in the years to come.

If possible & payment can be made directly to a stonemason & the cemetery, a curb stone for Doug & Cath on behalf of all of us may be a possibility.

For those that weren’t in direct contact with me or Jambul & were waiting for an update - quite logically expecting details of what I had arranged for Doug with J (& the 2 remaining relatives involved)…

I had paid for Cath’s cremation & all other expenses & didn’t know her that well - but you claim your people!

So, there wasn’t a question of us stepping up together for Doug when he died & we repeatedly offered to anyone remotely involved within an hour of Doug being found onwards to pay privately.

We would have done Doug proud, included Cath (worked with the remaining relatives) made the date & location public & it would have been well attended & beautiful.

As many know I was prevented from claiming Doug, even when nobody else even wanted him.

Bradford Council had to claim him!

There’s a lesson for everyone after this & I know some of you were planning to after what happened to Doug - make a will people!!

Ensure your thoughts & wishes in life are very clear in writing to prevent what you want, who you want to look after you & deal with your affairs (if you are incapacitated or worse die) being completely ignored or overridden by people shouting “blood relative” & “next of kin” whilst after money.

Doug’s death & the eventual funeral wasn’t our “gig” as what had happened to Doug after his death had been so disrespectfully referred to.

The actual details were unknown until it was listed online by Bradford Council.

We did not have any input regarding anything, although I tried in advance & on the day regarding music, corrected inaccuracies about Doug’s life & was even asked by a relative for Doug’s date of birth!

I couldn’t publicly share the information on here or social media for fear of spooking the 4 people planning on attending & “getting it over with” & the spiteful sibling & the boyfriend that ‘arranged’ it.

The fear of dates possibly changing, details being made private online & me losing track of Doug, after I’d finally found out where he’d be & when after weeks of upset, lies and worse.

To all those that offered me literal physical protection after threats, support & checked in on me (& J) with kindness in the background over the weeks - Thank You.

To all that helped quietly spread the word to arrange the gatecrashing of Doug’s funeral on Wednesday 21st May 2025 - you know who you are & you are amazing people.

You loved & respected your friend, did him proud & I will be forever grateful.

There were no ‘family’ flowers.

Doug deserved to have beautiful flowers at his funeral on behalf of us all - his friends & chosen family - & thankfully he did.

The floating flowers skateboard in the dimensions that Doug skated, that even he couldn’t lose IYKYK - was cremated with him along with a small bamboo urn of Cath’s ashes in a green velvet bag & a copy of his favourite book at my request.

For everyone that found out afterwards, contacted people that attended & were not best pleased - please understand we were in an extremely difficult position & searching daily as I did was the only reason I knew anything in terms of location & time.

There was no obituary for Doug for us to share.

There were no details being shared by relatives who just wanted the Bradford Council

public health funeral & Doug not being claimed by them kept quiet.

Doug missed out on so much following his death.

It wasn’t for us to announce - but I know for a fact the chapel would not have been big enough to hold everyone had we been able to with some notice.

Doug & all of us were denied that due to the spiteful decisions of others.

To those who managed to be in Bradford with a few days notice, especially those that travelled to Yorkshire, in the middle of a work week, for an early morning apparently unplanned & unorganised 30 minute service, not knowing what unpleasantness to expect, including us possibly being told to leave or fighting…..

Doug would have felt so beyond blessed by us all being there & so proud.

Those of Doug’s close friends that knew & couldn’t get out of commitments & those that didn’t attend due to the potential for unpleasantness based on previous experiences with certain individuals - you all know you were with us in spirit.

As one said “One Love”.

The potential unpleasantness sibling & boyfriend duo didn’t even turn up & the other 4 didn’t voice objections to us all being there, so decent people, who respected & loved Doug were sadly robbed of saying goodbye.

The opportunity for Doug to be carried into the chapel by people he knew & respected was unexpected.

Doug was finally given some of the dignity & respect that had been so very sadly lacking in the previous weeks & I was so pleased for him.

Doug knew who was who in his life at every stage.

You either knew him or knew of him - he could be daft, awkward & idiotic, but he was far from stupid.

He wasn’t shy about saying what he thought about people often to his detriment, calling out BS & untruths - sober or otherwise.

The complicated, funny, beautiful, kind, thoughtful, messy & sometimes selfish infuriating man you all loved that I knew of for decades from J & others & watched skate at The T&A banks…

The man that appeared at my hospital bedside for days with Cath in early 2024….

The man that needed his friend & called when he was unknowingly about to go through what were the hardest days of his life; Cath being in hospital on life support, her imminent death & the aftermath….

He knew who was who.

The man, that I had the privilege & frustrations of getting to know so intensely well….

That man had so many stories & I’d heard stories about so many of you going back so many years.

Doug will be revelling up on his cloud or bopping about with Cath, telling the story of how his friends gatecrashed his funeral (complaining about the music & PRS that he’d put on his “Lizzie’s to do list”) & telling whoever will listen about having been…

”Blessed by the best!”.

Some are aware & were in agreement when I refused two requests to reimburse Bradford Council the cost of the secret public health funeral from this fund.

Doug resented paying his council tax & refused to wash his recycling to get his money’s worth.

Doug was already contributing to his own funeral as the council were able to access what little was left in his bank account.

He would not have wanted me to give money to the council, especially not to pay for something he wouldn’t have approved of, didn’t reflect his life, who he actually was & that his actual people from his life couldn’t know about.

However after the event, I know he’d be okay with a very small token contribution to acknowledge:

The date but most importantly the time & location for his funeral going up online - which enabled me to finally find out where he’d be.

A name I actually recognised & had dealt with personally being the person that registered his death & is on his death certificate - not a completely unknown Bradford Council employee.

Then, the unexpected hearse & the opportunity for him to be carried into the chapel proudly by his friends who included the nephew, as it wasn’t the time or place to express feelings about Doug not being claimed by his remaining 2 relatives.

Thank you cards & appropriate gifts on behalf of us all are going to:

The crematorium staff who welcomed us.

They spoke with us, corrected crossed wires of hilariously inaccurate details about Doug (not an ice skater) & included what information they could.

Although they couldn’t add the music Doug would have actually wanted, stream or record the service to be saved or for people not there when I asked as it hadn’t been considered by his sibling, the gentleman managed to be diplomatic & the focus be on Doug.

The wonderful female funeral director contracted via Social Services by Bradford Council who went above & beyond on the day.

There had been no information provided by the remaining relatives about which funeral directors were dealing with Doug, if any, whether he was at a Chapel of rest or whether he was just in cold storage somewhere due to the disgusting decisions of one & failings of others.

It was heartless & cruel to leave people wondering for all those weeks.

The funeral director ensured on the day what went with Doug to be cremated, took on the spelling error I noticed on his coffin plate when saying goodbye - McLaughlan not McLaughlin - a pet peeve of Doug’s & a detail that had gone unnoticed but I couldn’t leave go uncorrected as one of final things I could do for him.

After the service, her genuine care & concern for Doug & what would happen to his ashes after his cremation was touching.

The lady at Bradford Council that I repeatedly argued & pleaded with to not go down the “unclaimed” “no next of kin prepared to take responsibility” path that had been chosen & seen as a money saving opportunity by others.

She actually claimed Doug, registered his death & put things in place for the funeral.

Whilst being told not to give me any details but stating how sad the situation was, she said she couldn’t stop me finding out.

The crematoriums diary entry for Doug being left public, I prefer to think wasn’t just an oversight.

Doug’s absolutely lovely & long suffering housing officer.

A lady who spent so many hours over the recent years actually with Doug in person, dealt with all things related to the house & endless drama.

She was working with Doug & I on Doug moving from under the weight, history & trauma of “The Shack”.

He had been forced to take the house on that crushed him years before.

He wanted & needed a fresh start drama free.

I read that someone had seen Doug a couple of weeks before his death & though not in great shape, he seemed at peace.

He was at peace - he’d been asking & was ready for such a long time to just walk away & finally had the opportunity & support to follow it through.

That was a large part of a plan that was so sadly cut short.

His untimely death opened an extremely nasty Pandora’s box of issues.

The era of “The Shack” which had to be metal shuttered 3 days after Doug’s death was finally legally over recently.

A family will eventually move in & it will be a home again with laughter.

Last, but by no means least, an IYKYK special person that was in both Doug & Cath’s lives, gave & wanted nothing from them but their friendship & them to be well.

Planning & channeling funds for Doug to be celebrated as he deserves & Cath remembered by us all is where things are now at.

Whatever can eventually be agreed with Leeds Council & legally installed at Hyde Park to remember Doug & Cath.

Then, something separately to celebrate & commemorate Doug (who I read soon after his death) was there at the start checking things out on his board whilst praising Mars bar drinks…

He will continue to be remembered there for so many years to come.

Additionally, things will be done in memory of Doug in the future such as donations made in his name to skate related causes & spots.

Conversations will obviously continue to be had, people reached out to, people’s availability worked through, other events considered so no clashes, suggestions welcomed & taken on board (pun intended) & then arrangements made for Doug’s life & legacy to be celebrated.

Doug’s legacy is so much bigger than any one person can handle - being “The Doug McLaughlan” was sometimes bigger than Doug himself in later years.

It won’t be rushed & done unless it’s right & you - Doug’s people all be available - it’s us all claiming him in spirit & saying goodbye.

Doug touched so many people’s lives & I know he burned a lot of bridges, upset people & could be an absolute dick, maybe he assumed he’d have time to put things right?

You, his friends & chosen family from his incredible life know what he would want & what actually made him happiest & when he shone the brightest - a day of skating & a bit of carnage.

The pool of talented, knowledgeable people in the skating, bmx & other scenes with the experience & skill sets to help make it happen & the day be amazing is so deep.

There has already been a couple of amazing ideas.

I’m sure you’ll let me know what you need directly & via Jambul to….

“Bless The Fuck Out It, standard!!”

BLESSEYE

Liz❤️