A group of superheroes with extra big hearts have been surprising children in Scotland with special visits to brighten their day.

The elite gang, half of whom are fathers themselves, volunteer their time on children's wards in local hospitals and answer requests from parents of seriously ill children.

Among them is a breakdancing Spiderman, a Batman who can do a pretty impressive Gangnam-style routine and Bumblebee from Transformers who comes highly trained in mixed martial arts and dance move the Robot.

Captain America is also a professional martial artist and tap champion.

Their mission, funded by events and parties they perform at, has so far brought big smiles to a great many small faces.

Founder Donald MacKenzie from Falkirk says all they wanted to do was "bring a bit of joy to kids who really deserve it".

"People sometimes don't realise what families are going through," he says.

"We had one family, the brother and sister had cancer and their mother had passed away.

"They deserve any bit of joy that can be given to them."

Donald, who grew up in care, says he lost his own parents when he was just a baby.

"They died when I was six months old and I was taken into care and was homeless by the time I was 16," he says.

"Growing up in care I saw kids around me and what they were going through. There are thousands of horror stories.

"I wanted to do something to give back and make children like them smile."

As Kirsten Sinclair, Director of Fundraising at Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity says: "Many of our young patients will spend days, weeks or months in hospital, which can be incredibly difficult for them and their families.

"A long stay in hospital can be transformed into something magical and exciting thanks to visits from the superheroes, and we are so grateful to them for volunteering their time to visit the children.

"Not all superheroes in the hospital wear capes, but these ones certainly do and we really appreciate their support!"

This is not the first time a group of dancing superheroes has caught the limelight.

In April 2015, a clip of Captain America, Batman, Spiderman and Transformer Bumblebee rocking out to Uptown Funk hit 27 million video views overnight after being posted by small family business Make My Day Events.

They were subsequently inundated with requests from countries including the United States, Canada and Australia.

As for Donald and the team back in Scotland, they now regularly volunteer their time meeting children, performing professional routines mixed with dance and martial arts.

Their company, Central Superhero Parties and Events, allows them to do paid events such as birthday parties to give them the funds they need to travel the country so they can do their charity work for free.

It is their quality performance, though, says Donald, which is what really makes them stand out.

"You know when you're a kid and you sometimes know it's a fake Santa," says Donald.

"I didn't want that. So our superheroes are in the very best outfits we can get and pull off superhero moves to impress.

"These children go away believing and with a smile on their face. That's worth it all."