Fiona McIvor, who lives with her family in Scrabster, wants to raise about £45,000 for the facility which would make life easier for her disabled daughter, Elle, and others like her.

Five-year-old Elle has cerebral palsy and Dandy-Walker syndrome – a congenital brain malformation – and has to use a wheelchair to get about. She is a primary one pupil at Pennyland and previously attended the nursery there.

Her mum explained that there are disabled facilities at the school but pointed out that primaries four to seven are on an upstairs level and there is no lift in that part of the building.

Fiona said the Highland Council plans to install a lift at Pennyland but it is likely to be some time before the scheme gets under way, so she decided to speed up the process by launching her fundraising initiative. She stressed that she has no criticism of the local authority but wants to help get the money so the lift can be installed more quickly than is being planned.

"Elle is a special little girl and I want to do what I can to make her feel as normal as possible. She deals with her problems very well for someone of her age, but she does get frustrated at times," said Fiona, who explained that at the moment the facilities at Pennyland meet her daughter's needs.

Elle McIvor (second from right), along with her sister Jemma and brother Callum, handing over the cheque to Pennyland Primary School head teacher Paul Hagan.

"I would like to see the lift in place by the time Elle is in primary four," she added.

The £2320 was raised from a raffle and donations and was recently handed over to Pennyland Primary School head teacher Paul Hagan by Elle, her sister Jemma and brother Callum.

"I am very grateful to everyone who helped me reach this fantastic amount of money. I am absolutely delighted with the response. This is not just for my daughter but for everyone with a disabled child at the school," Fiona told the Caithness Courier.

Her fundraising efforts will continue and she has a number of other ideas in the pipeline, including getting people to sit in a bath of beans in the precinct in Thurso, a sponsored bike run and an auction which includes a vintage Shetland shawl.

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