A hairdresser from Largs who suffers a rare skin condition has been selected to represent North Ayrshire in the Miss Great Britain competition.
Aimee Gilmour, 27, will compete in the Glasgow heat of the competition - and is hoping that her entry can be groundbreaking in a very special way.
Aimee, who now lives in Fairlie with husband Ewan, suffers from the skin condition Vitiligo.
It is caused by the lack of a pigment called melanin in the skin. Melanin is produced by skin cells called melanocytes, and it gives your skin its colour.
In vitiligo, there are not enough working melanocytes to produce enough melanin in your skin. This causes white patches to develop on her skin.
Aimee, who grew up in Irvine, spent time on Rothesay before coming to work as a hair stylist at Salon 17 in Boyd Street, Largs.
She said: "There is no real cure and it means you have to be very careful under the sun as it can spread and totally fluctuates.
"I feel that it is amazing to have been selected for the beauty pageant given I have a skin condition and I want to prove to younger girls that you can do what I do and there are no barriers.
"When I was younger I felt insecure about myself but as I grew into my body I felt more confident and now I realise it is about bringing awareness and showing that nothing is impossible and here I am about to compete in the Race for Life and then compete in the Miss Great Britain contest!
"The beauty pageant contacted me though Instagram and liked my stories and posts - and the role embodies everything I am passionate about including charity work and I love performing and singing."
Aimee will be running in the Race for Life competition in Glasgow Green this Sunday for Cancer Research.
Mum and dad, Claire and John, also live in Largs, and Aimee and her family have rallied round to raise funds for Kidney Research after her dad donated a kidney to an unknown in 2014.
And after winning a talent show in Rothesay in 2006, Aimee found out about Spirit Aid and was involved in a major fundraising effort with her school to build a creche in Malawi which to this day feeds 3,000 impoverished African children.
As a result, Aimee won the Young Scot of the Year award in 2008.
Aimee said: "I am very proud of the work in Malawi which has a lasting legacy after visiting the country in 2006 and it is incredible to think all these years that it still benefits so many."
Working with Spirit Aid also helped benefit children at home and abroad and Aimee is now turning her attentions to Cancer Research with her Race for Life and has been in training for the big day which takes place this Sunday.
To donate, go to Aimee McKay, Miss GB Glasgow finalist✨ (cancerresearchuk.org)
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