She’s summit special! Margaret, 90, raises £400k in challenge
INSPIRATIONAL 90-year-old Margaret Payne has completed her 10-week fundraising challenge and raised more than £400,000 for charity.
On Easter Sunday, the greatgrandmother set herself the ambitious task of climbing 2398ft on her stairs – the same height as Suilven, the Scots mountain she climbed when she was 15 – to raise money for the NHS, the Highland Hospice and the RNLI.
Despite having a dodgy hip and two knee replacements, Margaret reached the mountain’s peak, on her staircase, at midday yesterday. It took her 73 days to climb 282 flights of stairs at her home in Ardvar, Sutherland.
Margaret, whose husband Jim passed away on Christmas Day last year, said: “I can only manage so many flights of stairs a day, so I feel happy to have achieved my goal and that so much money has been raised.
“I am truly humbled by the generosity of everyone who has donated to these amazing causes.”
Margaret, who is a grandmother of nine and great-grandmother of four, hit her initial fundraising target of £10,000 within the first week. She has now raised £421,000 to support charities.
To inspire and motivate her throughout the challenge, Ullapool artist James Hawkins donated a painting of the mountain for Margaret to hang beside her stairs. After reaching the “peak”, she was serenaded with bagpipes.
Margaret said: “It’s been an amazing way of keeping me fit and my spirits up, as well as giving me purpose.”
She was helped during the challenge by her eldest daughter, Nicky McArthur, who returned to Scotland from New Zealand when the Covid crisis hit.
Nicky said: “When mum and I dreamt up this challenge at the start of lockdown, neither of us could have imagined the whirlwind of support she has received.
“It has been overwhelming in the most wonderful way and has provided us with many incredible memories we’ll treasure forever.”