A pensioner attempting to raise money for the NHS amid the coronavirus pandemic by climbing the equivalent of a Highland mountain on her staircase has now attracted more than £250,000 in donations.
Margaret Payne had planned to raise £10,000 for healthcare workers and the Highland Hospice in return for mimicking a summit of Suilven - 2,398ft - by making 282 trips upstairs.
But the 90-year-old's efforts have been so well received that she has now raised some £264,000 via her Virgin Money Giving Page since starting the challenge on Easter Sunday.
Mrs Payne, from Ardvar, Sutherland, has said she expects the 282 trips up the stairs to take her about two months to complete.
She takes on the stair-climbing challenge several times throughout the day, starting in the morning once she is ready and finishing in the late afternoon.
Her efforts come on the back of another marathon challenge taken on by 99-year-old war veteran Captain Tom Moore, who has raised £26 million for the NHS by walking his garden 100 times.
Speaking to reporters last week, Mrs Payne said performing her challenge was a means of saying thank you to NHS and hospice staff who took care of her late husband Jim, before he passed away at Christmas, and to those now battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
Commenting on the donations, she added: "I think it's amazing, I wasn't expecting anything like it - 10,000 thank yous.
"I think it's brilliant of them all and I feel the NHS really deserve it.
"They have been amazing, each day they are risking their lives."
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Mrs Payne's daughter, Nicky McArthur, who is staying with her mother during the lockdown period, meanwhile said the generosity shown was “extraordinary”.
