Stone urges support for Suilven staircase challenge
North MP Jamie Stone is urging the public to support 90-year-old Margaret Payne in her bid to reach the peak of Suilven – from her home.
Over the next two months, Mrs Payne plans to climb her staircase a total of 282 times, the equivalent of the 2398ft it would take to climb to the summit of the Sutherland mountain.
She is raising funds for the NHS and Highland Hospice. Initially she set a £10,000 target but has exceeded that sum many times over, with the amount now standing at almost £90,000.
Mrs Payne, who lives at Ardvar, near Lairg, is an old friend of Mr Stone's late mother.
Comparisons have been made with the fundraising efforts of Captain Tom Moore, who hit the national headlines by raising millions of pounds for the NHS after completing 100 laps of his garden ahead of his 100th birthday.
Mr Stone, the MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, has released a video on Facebook and Twitter in support of Mrs Payne.
"I think this is a remarkable effort to raise money for the NHS, at the age of 90 when you have just been widowed – what a brave thing to do," Mr Stone says in the video. "Gosh, I support people like Tom and Margaret.
"It would be best if the Government could pay for the NHS but these heroic endeavours are to be absolutely admired and saluted. It's a privilege to know Margaret."
It has been 76 years since Mrs Payne first scaled Suilven with her sister, Elizabeth, during World War II.
“I have now lived in the Highlands for over 40 years and I would like to raise funds to support the NHS in particular at this difficult time, she said.
People can donate at Mrs Payne's fundraising page.