A Kirkcudbright woman has come up with an unusual way to help people and animals affected by the Australian wildfires.
Sally-Anne Aitken is offering people the chance to choose her next tattoo ... in return for donations.
The most popular suggestions will go to a vote, with the winning choice then being inked onto Sally-Anne by Edinburgh tattooist Jaye Kaya Art.
Sally-Anne, who is studying mental health nursing at Dumfries and Galloway College, is hoping to raise £1,000 to go to the Australian Red Cross’ Disaster Relief and Recovery programme and wildlife charity Wires with her Getting Inked for Oz project.
She said: “I was watching on the news and getting quite sad seeing all these people who are losing their homes and all the animals that are becoming extinct which I think is what pushed me.
“One day I decided to stop moping around and do something. I didn’t want to do normal thing like a sky dive or a coffee morning. I’ve run quite a few coffee mornings before and they’ve been successful but people my age or my social circle aren’t interested in that.
“I thought I’d let people choose a tattoo. I’ve had quite a few nice comments, I expected to get a few gnarly comments but most people have been okay. One person has suggested my partner’s face!
“I’ve had quite a few tattoos before but they have been of my own choosing. It is a 10cm by 10cm space which is still quite big and will either be on my arm or my foot.”
“That’s the other reason I wanted to do it – we’ve all been celebrating New Year but these people haven’t been able to.”
Anyone who would like to support Sally-Anne can do so online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/getting-inked-for-oz.
