A KIND-hearted quilter got her sewing machine out to help an Inverclyde counselling charity.

Jan Walker, who previously owned her own sewing business 'Pink Designs', turned her hand to making face masks for family and friends after the Scottish Government told people to start wearing them amid the coronavirus crisis.

Rather than accepting gifts such as chocolate and wine in return, the big-hearted McAnerney Pharmacy employee asked in return that people made a donation to Mind Mosaic Counselling & Therapy.

Thanks to kind pledges she raised over £500.

The 61-year-old told the Tele: "As I am a quilter, I had hundreds of fabrics lying around.

"I decided to put them to good use and make masks seeing as they were becoming mandatory.

"I started off just doing them as a favour for people, but since have set up a gofundme called 'Masks for the Community' and people have been extremely generous.

"I'm currently sitting at around £540 and this has all been raised from mid-July."

Jan and her husband - former Australian cricketer Darren - spent years in Oz before returning to Greenock and she has had lots of mask orders from her friends almost 10,000 miles away.

Jan has ensured she has plenty of thistle and tartan fabric masks to send overseas.

She told the Tele: "Everyone really loves the masks with Scottish designs and patterns.

"I've been sending them abroad and covering all costs to ensure the charity can make as much money as possible.

"I've also been making them for children of all ages - I really enjoy using all the different fabrics and sit with my sewing station in front of the television on my days off."

The thoughtful grandmother plans to raise £600 for Mind Mosaic's adult service before turning her attention to raising funds for local men's suicide prevention group Man On Inverclyde.

Jan added: "Men's mental health seems to be a bit forgotten about, nobody ever really thinks on a man when they are thinking of people struggling - we tend to focus on women and children.

"I'm planning on donating the next lot of funds to the group, as they're doing such a good job locally."

*To purchase a mask or to donate to Jan's fundraiser, visit www.gofundme.com/f/ktbmvk-masks-for-the-community