Chronic pain sufferers from Moray who bonded while sharing their plights online have met in person for the first time.
For nearly a year, members of the Affa Sair group have offered each another support and advice over the Internet.
They also spearheaded the campaign to return a pain clinic to Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin, which will mean sufferers no longer have to travel to Aberdeen for treatment.
Now, NHS Grampian has now allocated the members a meeting space at Moray College, where they will congregate for monthly get-togethers.
Group founder Chris Bridgeford, from Forres, suffers from a complex pain syndrome and has to take a range of tablets to get through the day.
He said regular meetings will offer members social and practical benefits.
“We know each other well, but this is the first time we have met,” he said following their first meet-up this week.
“People sometimes struggle to understand what chronic pain is like, as sufferers don’t display any visible signs of it – but here we all empathise with and support each other.
“Our first meeting was just to discuss ideas, and in the future we will have guest speakers talking about therapies and things like that.”
Elgin 19-year-old Katherine Keough-Jack has suffered from a chronic and incurable pain condition called fybromyalgia since the age of 12.
But she endured most of her teenage years unaware that she had the illness and was only diagnosed in late 2014.
She discovered Affa Sair last year and said members’ support had helped her through some tough times.
She said: “This is the first time I’ve met people who are going through what I am, they have been great.”
An NHS Grampian spokeswoman added: “We were happy to assist the Affa Sair group in securing a venue for their first ‘real world’ meeting.”