Received wisdom dictates that one should never fight a battle on two separate fronts, but don't try telling that to Ann Robertson. She fights daily across multiple battle lines to improve not just her own quality of life, but also the lives of everyone around her home in Kilwinning.

A cancer survivor who's still contending with the repercussions from an initial diagnosis in 1997, Robertson's continuing medical treatment has not slowed the pace of her work with various organisations and initiatives focused on community improvement. In fact, she says she puts in more hours now than she did when she had a paying job.

"I never worked as hard when I was employed," she said. "When it is a passion, you don't notice all the hours you put in."

One of her main obsessions is the local credit union, where she chairs the board of directors. Now into her second year at the helm, Robertson has overseen much of a phenomenal growth spurt that has nearly doubled membership to almost 2300 people during the past 24 months.

Known formally as the 1st Alliance (Ayrshire) Credit Union, the organisation was formed through the merger of several credit unions across north Ayrshire between 2002 and 2004.

This work, spearheaded by former chairman Sandy Hughes, paved the way for a variety of innovative products that have brought in hundreds of people previously excluded from mainstream financial services.

The first of these was the so-called "1st Loan", launched with backing from the growth fund operated by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Robertson had to push hard to get that off the ground, as 1st Loan turned the traditional ethos of credit unions on its head. Under conventional practice, credit union members must make regular payments into a savings account for at least 12 weeks before they are allowed to borrow, with the loan value limited to twice what they have saved.

1st Loans - which initially provided money to clear priority debts such as rent arrears and overdue fuel bills - are given on the basis that new members agree to open a savings account with a minimum of £1.

These borrowers are given mandatory financial counselling, but they are not required to continue putting money into savings.

"People couldn't get their head around the idea that we were turning this all around," Robertson said. Critics thought the introduction of 1st Loans would increase the level of repayment defaults, something that has not happened.

"The percentage isn't any higher than when we were strictly giving loans on savings," Robertson said. "A lot of these 1st Loan people are good members and good savers with us.

"Usually, they start to talk to us about it when they get to around the £60 mark. Once it gets to £100, they don't want to take their money out again. These are people who have never had any sort of savings before in their lives."

Robertson also championed a similarly controversial scheme to encourage saving among children by matching their regular deposits pound-for-pound up to a set limit. This scheme, supported with money from the Scottish Government, took about six months to get off the ground. "It was completely bonkers," she said. "People just didn't trust the fact that we were giving money away."

Now armed with a second grant from the DWP, 1st Alliance is extending its loan scheme to include help for those getting back into work. Borrowers needing assistance with things such as transportation costs or work clothing can apply alongside those wishing to clear priority debts.

Forthcoming plans for the launch of a current account should have even broader appeal.

Provisionally named the Alliance Ayrshire Current Account, Robertson said this service could benefit hundreds of people when it is introduced early next year. She estimates that as many as half of those living in north Ayrshire don't have a current account, meaning they can't take advantage of things such as lower prices for gas and electricity like customers who pay by direct debit.

"Why do we always penalise the less well-off? They are constantly fighting a losing battle because they are always having to pay the optimum price," she said.

"If someone has not had a job in, say, five years and has been on benefits, there are no high street banks anywhere that will give them a current account. To me, that is ridiculous. You should treat everyone the same."

With a hand in everything from the Pennyburn Community Association and local youth group PRYDE down to her role as a coach with local and national baton-twirling squads, nearly all that Robertson does is focused on improving the community where she has lived for the past 32 years. Having raised her three children in Kilwinning, she would like it to be a place where other young families can thrive.

"It should be everyone's as a right, that every person can live in a safe community, and a place with community pride," she said. "But unless you fight for it, you are not going to get it.

"It is not magic. It is just believing that it can happen, and working towards that. I don't like to admit that something can't be done - that is not in my vocabulary."

This determination is reflected in Robertson's attitude towards her illness. Though she follows the treatments ordered by her doctors - she lost all her hair after a round of chemotherapy earlier this year - she refuses to let cancer dictate her life.

As for her other activities, be they credit union, community association or baton twirling, the aim is always the same for Robertson: creating a better place to live.

"I find it difficult to separate all these things, because they all work together," she said. "I see it as one piece of work, being directed towards one goal."