Edinburgh sisters Shaunie and Shavanna Thomson from Stenhouse to be buried next week thanks to kind donations

The family of two Edinburgh sisters who died just days apart have expressed their gratitude to everyone who helped raise thousands of pounds to give the girls a proper send-off.

Shaunie, 26, and Shavanna Levi Thomson, 21, from Stenhouse will be laid to rest on Monday, April 3, with the funeral service taking place at 11am at Richmond Craigmillar Church, at Niddrie Mains Road. This will be followed by their burial at 12.45pm at Portobello Cemetery, Milton Road. The inseparable sisters died suddenly just 19 days apart, on February 12 and March 3.

An online fundraiser organised by Shaunie and Shavanna’s family to give them a proper send-off raised an impressive £3,158. A member of the family told the Evening News how grateful they are to everyone who donated, which will now allow the sisters to be buried, giving the family a place to go to remember them forever.

They said: “We just want to say thanks to everyone who donated, especially during a cost of living crisis when everyone is struggling. Without this money we wouldn’t be able to do this for the girls’ funeral.

"We are having a church service and they will be buried as well. We were having to do a cremation as we couldn’t afford anything else. So we are a lot happier that they can be buried, as it gives us somewhere to go to remember them. This is a big thing to us as a family, it means a lot. Thank you.”