A Lochwinnoch woman has been recognised by the Prime Minister for her commitment to helping homeless veterans.
Donna Armstrong, 50, has received a UK Points of Light award, which is given to outstanding individual volunteers making a change in their local community.
The mum-of-three launched the charity Homeless Veterans Project in 2019 alongside Alex McAnespie, a former soldier from Greenock, who is being given the same award.
Donna said she was not expecting to be honoured in the Prime Minister’s Points of Light programme.
"It came as a total surprise," she told The Gazette.
"I've been feeling absolutely over the moon. It's excellent that a little charity in Scotland has been recognised by the Prime Minister, it's not quite sunk in yet.
"Since we started four years ago, we've helped house 142 veterans in that time."
Homeless Veterans Project offers ex-servicemen and women who are homeless, or at risk of being homeless, practical and financial assistance to secure sustainable accommodation.
The charity also helps veterans overcome any obstacles they may encounter that prevent them from having housing security.
Donna, who works as a practice manager at an osteopath clinic, described her voluntary work at Homeless Veterans Project as "a labour of love."
She said: "There's four trustees - myself, Alex, Chris McAnespie and Phil Williamson - and we basically do it all ourselves, with a few other people who help us with collections.
"We are totally voluntary, with no head office and we don't pay wages, so every pound that gets put in the bucket goes towards helping veterans.
"Our recent success story was a veteran who had addiction issues. In the past three months, we've got him clean, moved him into his own home, furnished it and got him a job.
"To us, if that had been the only person we helped, that would be a great achievement, but there have been several stories like that."
Donna and Alex will be presented with the Points of Light award at a special lunch at Holyrood House on Thursday, June 29, by Pam Gosal and Dr Sandesh Gulhane - two MSPs who have provided vital support to the charity since it was launched.
Donna added: "We feel absolutely honoured to have got this award and we just hope it will make people more aware that the charity is here to help."
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