Fundraising target hit for the purr-manent memorial to remember the Lakes' stray community cat

Barnaby Papadopulos went to meet some of the people who want to remember Riley

Thousands of pounds has been raised for a bronze statue to remember Riley, the Ambleside community cat.

Riley, also known as the Millans Park Cat, was a furry favorite with locals and tourists alike, and even had her own facebook group where people would post about meeting her.

After news spread of Riley’s death people took to social media to share tributes and flowers, pictures and notes were placed on a bench she frequented in the town.

It's believed that Riley lived to be around 13-years-old when she died after she was hit by a car.

Riley first came into the lives of the people of Ambleside in 2011, when Dodd’s Italian Restaurant owner Laszlo Papp, found her struggling in the snow as a kitten.

"She was just crying in the snow looking quite desperate.

"So I thought you know I'm going to maybe feed this cat.

"The next day she returned to our back door.

"She was always pretty much on time.

"She knew when we open, she knew when the people are in the business and she would just turn up," he added.

He said: "As the years passed, she became comfortable around people and she became this Ambleside Sensation."

Local couple Ian and Pat Rollings also looked after her and made a house in thier garden which became Riley's retreat.

"From day one, the village community came together and looked after her," Ian said.

"Sometimes a massive 72 packs of food will be left for her.

"This is how she came to be called Riley - because I thought she lived the life of Riley!"

"She knew where the food was coming from because she would go and sit by the Spar and of course people would go in there and buy her her food, people would go and fuss her," he said.

He added: "She would also go looking for people, and during COVID, she was lost because her friends weren't there anymore.

"She was known by everybody pretty much in the village, and she was known by thousands of visitors who came from all over."

Pat added: "She was nobody's cat, but everybody's cat. And she loved everybody."

The £4,000 that has been raised will go towards the statue, which will be made by a local artist, the rest will go towards a pizza in her name.

The statue will be placed on Riley’s favourite wall where she welcomed so many people into the town that became her home.

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