A charity boss has told how she is facing one of her toughest ever physical challenges this week in a bid to raise awareness for her cause.
Maxine Allan is midway through a gruelling 100km canoe expedition across the north of Scotland.
The journey, taking her from Fort William in the west to Inverness in the east, requires extreme fitness.
And the four-night mission is proving one of fitness fanatic Maxine's biggest efforts to date.
She told Ayrshire Live: "The weather has made things very difficult so far.
"It feels like we've been rowing the Atlantic in a storm!
"It's gruelling but you just have to try and keep going and the scenery makes up for it.
"Yesterday we had to do a couple of emergency evacuations onto the shore due to the stormy weather, hailstones and lightning.
"The main thing for me is to raise awareness of the work we're doing."
Maxine's love of adventure has seen her successfully reaching the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa in 2015, among other high-profile challenges.
She founded Whiteleys, which provides free respite breaks and extended support for children, young people and their families with cancer or life altering illness in the UK, in June 2016.
And she was recognised with a BEM (Order of the British Empire) in the latest Queen's New Year's Honours List for services to young people with cancer and the NHS in Ayr during COVID-19.
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