A Lanarkshire schoolgirl has scaled mountains in aid of an East Kilbride hospice which cared for her late gran.
Sophie Marsh has bagged not one, but two, Munros in memory of her two grans - both of whom lost their battles with cancer within a few years of one another.
One of her grans, Norma Cassidy, received care at Kilbryde Hospice before she passed away from secondary breast cancer but her other gran, Margaret Marsh from Hamilton, sadly died from melanoma three years ago.
The eight-year-old Chatelherault Primary pupil climbed Ben Lomond last year shortly after Norma, from Larkhall, passed away and then Ben Vorlich last month, raising an amazing £1300 for Kilbryde.
Her uncle, Craig Cassidy, from Australia, completed the Ben Lomond climb with her and dad, Raymond.
He was given special permission to leave the country to be with his mum, Norma, during the pandemic last year.
And for Ben Vorlich, Craig was joined by his wife, Pauline and daughters, Miya and Sarah, as rules for travelling from Australia had relaxed, alongside Sophie and Raymond.
The schoolgirl, from Silvertonhill, said on her JustGiving page: "I miss my grans so much and it made me so upset as I don't have any grans anymore and it's all down to a horrible disease called cancer.
"My gran Norma went in to Kilbryde Hospice twice to get fluid out her tummy and then the third time she became to poorly to come home and after a few weeks she passed away.
"Paw went to visit her every day and he sat all day by her side holding her hand but there was only one comfy chair for him between all of the rooms in the hospice.
"So I want to try and raise money for every loved one to have a comfy chair in each room.
"I'm going to climb Ben Vorlich, it's slightly higher than Ben Lomond. I know it's going to be hard but I can do it and when I get to the top I'll be near the sky and my grans will see me from heaven."
Sophie's proud mum, Elaine, told Lanarkshire Live: "This was all down to Sophie and we are so incredibly proud of her. She was very close to both her grans but it was her gran Norma's time in Kilbryde which started the fundraising.
"Sophie wanted to know why there wasn't comfy chairs in every room and we had to explain that the hospice is a charity and doesn't have funding for everything. That's when it all started - Sophie wanted to make sure other families had comfy chairs to sit in too.
"Craig was over to say goodbye to mum last year and while he was here he decided to do Ben Lomond with Sophie.
"When she then decided she wanted to keep going and climb other mountains, he came back over with more of the family this year for Ben Vorlich."
While the climbs were not a walk in the park for many of those taking part, it was second nature to Craig, who competes in iron man competitions and has qualified for the world championships in Hawaii in October.
"Sophie was only seven when she did Ben Lomond last year but she was determined and given my brother, Craig, competes in iron men I think he was a good climbing companion for her," Elaine went on.
"But, still, for someone her age to do it, without a single moan, is incredible. She is such a wee inspiration.
"And she is still trying to come up with more fundraising ideas, she says she isn't done yet!"
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