A Scots gran climbing a mountain on her stairs for the NHS was introduced to her fundraising hero Captain Tom Moore as she celebrated hitting £250,000 on This Morning yesterday.
Margaret Payne, 90, was delighted to chat with the 99-year-old Yorkshire war veteran who inspired her to climb the stairs of her Highlands home hundreds of times as she discussed reaching the milestone with presenters Holly and Phil.
Speaking via videolink from their homes in Sutherland and Bedfordshire, the OAPs praised each other for their efforts, with Tom - who raised more than £25 million for NHS Charities Together by walking 100 laps of his garden - telling Margaret: “It’s not easy is it?”
The Record told last week how great-grandmother-of-four Margaret was embarking on a challenge to climb 2398ft - the equivalent height of nearby mountain Suilven - to repay the health service for the care it gave her late husband Jim, who died on Christmas day last year.
The pensioner - who described Captain Moore as “amazing” and joked she could be his “competition in the north” - estimated it would take 282 ascents of her 17 stairs to complete the challenge by later this summer.
Now the mum-of-three, who has had two knee replacements, has surpassed her £10,000 target since embarking on the mission on Easter Sunday and yesterday reached a quarter-of-a-million pounds.
Congratulating the former fish farmer on smashing her target, presenter Holly Willoughby, said: “The money is going up, up, up.”
Margaret said: “Yes it is, it’s amazing and I’m very grateful to all. A huge thank you. The smallest I have amount I seen is 2p and for someone to send 2p when they’re obviously very poor is amazing.”
Introducing Captain Moore to Margaret, Holly asked the veteran: “How does it feel to raise this amount of money and inspire others to do the same?”
He said it was “out of this world”, before joking with Margaret: “Remember when you’re going up your stairs you’ve got to come down again. It’s not easy is it?”
Captain Moore, who served in India and Burma after enlisting for the army during the second world war, touched the nation’s hearts when he set his charity mission to mark his upcoming 100th birthday.
His extraordinary fundraising efforts saw him land a number 1 on the Official Big Top 40 chart this weekend after he released a cover of You’ll Never Walk Alone with Michael Ball and the NHS Voices of Care Choir.
Thanking Margaret and Tom for their efforts, Holly said: “It’s people like both of you that inspire us and make such a difference.”
Donate to Margaret’s fundraiser visit here.
