Aimee Gilmour, who lives in Mountpleasant Road and attends Rothesay Primary School, picked up the Young Scot Community Award at a star-studded evening in Glasgow's City Halls for her work on behalf of the Spirit Aid charity and a struggling youth club in the city.

Aimee, whose remarkable singing talents have been wowing audiences in Glasgow and her previous home town of Irvine as well as in Rothesay, is an ambassador for Spirit Aid, a humanitarian relief charity dedicated to rebuilding the lives of young people devastated by war, genocide, poverty, abuse or lack of opportunity.

On picking up her award from education minister Fiona Hyslop, Aimee told the audience: "I want to help as many people as possible, here and worldwide. This award is for Spirit Aid and the youth of today and I thank everyone who voted for me."

Accompanied by her proud parents, John and Clair, Aimee shared a table at the ceremony with X Factor winner Leon Jackson and found herself mingling with actors from Hollyoaks and River City and celebrities including Tam Cowan, Billy Sloan, John Smeaton, TV makeover experts Colin and the evening's compere, GMTV's Jenni Falconer, at the glittering event.

Aimee also met First Minister Alex Salmond, of whom John said: "He was great. He chatted with Aimee at her own level and invited her to visit Holyrood as his personal guest."

Said Clair: "As soon as the Community Award was announced, Aimee just jumped off her chair, bounded on to the stage and adjusted the microphone down to her height - she just pulls it out of the bag when she needs it.

"With her work in Glasgow and her many friends in Irvine, where we used to live, and Rothesay, where we have lived for the last twelve months, Aimee had so many people voting for her."

We asked Clair how Aimee has managed to stay such a bright, friendly, well-adjusted 12-year-old despite this type of fame.

She explained: "Unlike older people who get worried about labels, Aimee is unaffected by it and is already looking forward to her next adventure.

"Spirit Aid is promoting inclusiveness, and that affects how she looks at things. John and I used to foster children, which has helped her understand different groups - it has all contributed to giving her a good grip on life.

"John and I like her to go and be a child - when she came home she was on her Bebo site to her pals right away, and with today (Monday) being a school holiday she is having a well-deserved long lie."

Aimee is also involved with Spirit Aid's next project, which will happen during the first week of the spring school holiday next month and will see Rothesay's school campus turned into a film set.

The resulting film, on the theme of bullying, will be written, produced and directed by pupils from both Rothesay Primary and the Academy, and John told us Spirit Aid's founder David Hayman hopes to visit Bute during production to see how the work is coming on.

Rothesay Primary is also taking part in fund raising activities to help a creche in South Africa, where conditions were described by John as "heartbreaking".

In the meantime, by the time you read this Aimee will be back at school after the Easter weekend, with her feet firmly on the ground and an eye on her next fund raising work - with her attitude, and now her award, serving as a welcome reminder to some older cynics that there are young people today who deserve to be praised and not pilloried.