A small Western Isles-based charity established after a kidnapped Scots aid worker was mistakenly shot dead by US forces in Afghanistan, is helping young girls become doctors and lawyers in that country.

The Linda Norgrove Foundation began in 2010 after the young woman from Lewis died in a failed attempt by Navy SEALS to rescue her from the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Her parents, John and Lorna, who live in Uig on the island, started the organisation as a way of creating something positive from the tragedy. So far it has given more than £500,000 to help women and children affected by the Afghanistan conflict.

In their latest newsletter, they reveal how almost £6,000 is being spent supporting14 young women to study law, while another two are being sponsored to study medicine.

A total of £9,000 is being spent to pay the salary of three midwives are being supported to work in outreach care at a cost of £9,000. Meanwhile 10 women are studying English, communications and computing, at a cost of £9,400.

Mr and Mrs Norgrove said: "Our focus as a charity isn't in the UK, it's in the results achieved in Afghanistan."

The foundation has funded grassroots projects, including orphanages which care for some of the country's most disadvantaged disabled children, homes for widows, education for girls and emergency medical help for women who have been severely abused.