A YOUNG Wee County volunteer is taking on her toughest challenge yet this September, raising much-needed cash for a local charity.

Alloa girl Lily Christie is taking on an around 50 mile cycle ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh at the age of just 10, biking in the Pedal for Scotland event on September 11.

She hopes to raise as much as she can for The Gate Charity in Alloa, where she has volunteered since she was as young as six.

Lily said: “I normally help sort and pack food parcels or help at the annual school uniform bank, now I am cycling 50 miles to help raise money because I want to help the people that use the charity."

The Gate offers practical help, aiming to make a positive change in the local community, supporting in particular the vulnerable, the marginalised and the homeless. It started more than a decade ago as a soup pot project and became a fully-grown charity in 2011, before moving into its current centre at the Old North Church in 2014.

The charity runs a number of projects to help out locally; there is a Community Café every Friday with a delicious £2.95 lunch special and its signature soup pot, which originally served a handful of homeless people in 2004.

Developed in partnership with Clackmannanshire Council, The Gate also offers starter packs for the homeless who are just starting a new tenancy with supplies and basic equipment “which make a house a home”.

Since 2010, the charity has also been running its Crisis Foodbank – operating through referrals from statutory agencies, other charities and faith groups to provide fresh and non perishable food to those facing hunger.

And most recently, it has been operating its School Uniform Bank, offering school clothes and essentials, ahead of the new academic year.

Lily, the youngest volunteer of the charity, has been training hard, cycling around the Wee County in the past weeks to get ready for the huge ride.

She was originally aiming to raise as much as £300 for The Gate, but her efforts are already paying off as she has managed to attract the support of nearly 30 people, netting £355 for the charity to date.

Nonetheless, she is pushing on and hopes to attract even more sponsors.

To sponsor Lily and donate to The Gate, visit her fundraising page. Alternatively, contact Marie Brownhill, centre manage at The Gate, on 01259 218 766.