A CARING 11-year-old girl from Alexandria is over the moon after being named ‘Dumbarton Hero’ in a public vote organised by the Artizan Shopping Centre.

Amy Don, a P7 pupil at Lennox Primary in Bonhill, won people’s hearts though her charity fund-raising projects linked to her love of photography.

Amy hit on a plan to raise donations by holding Christmas themed photoshoots and soon realised her idea was a winner.

The first was held at La Belle Amour salon in Bonhill where customers got the chance to dress as Santa or elves for photos that could be used as Christmas greetings in aid of See The Invisibles, a group devoted to helping homeless people in Glasgow.

Spurred on by her success, she held a second shoot at the Hawkshead outdoor clothing shop at Loch Lomond Shores where her mum Lesley Ann works – this time to raise money for the Christmas Toybank appeal run by West Dunbartonshire Community Foodshare.

Lesley Ann said: “We raised an amazing £634 which we spent on toys for the Toybank.

“We bought three and a half trolley loads from B&M, who gave us a 10 per cent discount when they heard who it was for, and from Argos.”

Back in 2014, Amy donated £1,500 to the Little Princess Trust by cutting 16 inches off her hair.

When asked how she felt about winning, Amy said: “I didn’t even know I was nominated until my mum told me I was in the final four!

“It feels amazing to be Dumbarton Hero. Thank you to everyone who voted for me!”

Stewart Gilmour, operations manager at the centre, told the Reporter: “It has been an absolute honour that we’ve been able to highlight just how kind and thoughtful people are in the local area.”

“I’d also like to say well done and thank you to Amy and our other fantastic finalists, Jonathan Rainey, Alistair Ferguson and Melody Whitley, who are also doing wonderful things in Dumbarton – we appreciate each and every one of you.”