An Israeli hospital, a Palestinian school for the blind and a charity for people with muscle-wasting conditions will benefit from a 25-mile cycle in the shadow of a much-loved north-east mountain.
The eighth Bennachie Bike Ride will take place tomorrow from 1pm, covering country roads and forest tracks along Donview, Monymusk, the Fetternear Estate and Craigearn.
Ann-Marie Coleman, of Inverurie, has organised the event in aid of Nazareth Hospital in Jerusalum, the Al-Shurooq School For Blind Children in Bethlehem, Palestine, and Muscular Dystrophy UK.
The veteran cyclist has taken part in several sponsored cycles in the Middle East in the past, and has paid numerous visits to Israel and Palestine.
The Chapel of Garioch hall will act as the start and finish point for the run, and there will be a banana break near Monymusk.
Inverurie West Church elder, Mrs Coleman, 66, said the aim was to raise “as much as possible” for the causes.
She said: “We start at the Chapel of Garioch hall and follow quite a nice route, mainly on the country roads. And Bennachie is lovely, it is Aberdeenshire’s crowning glory.
“We have had seven bike rides in the past, with about 30 people year by year, but you never know until they actually turn up.
“The charities are all close to my heart. I first did a sponsored bike ride back in 1997 for Nazareth Hospital.
“It is a very complicated part of the world. I am very lucky to have met people from all parts of it, in Israel and Palestine.”