A Stevenston dad has raised over £2,000 to secure his young son’s place at a specialist support school for another year to enable him to walk.

Barry McMichael trekked the Great Wall of China and ran the Loch Ness Marathon to raise funds for his five-year-old son, Callum, who has cerebral palsy.

Callum wears leg splints and often uses a wheelchair to get around. But the P2 pupil’s condition has improved vastly since he started attending the Craighalbert Centre in Cumbernauld. The school provides educational and therapy services for children and young people throughout Scotland affected by cerebral palsy and other neurological conditions.

It costs £4,000 a year to send Callum to Craighalbert. While the Scottish Government offer half of that sum, Barry has to find the other £2,000 to make sure his little boy is able to continue the specialist support.

Barry, who works for CalMac, told the Herald: “He goes there about two terms a year Monday to Thursday, and about 10 Saturdays. It’s intense, one-to-one. The Scottish Government put in £2,000 but it costs £4,000.

“Craighalbert has been absolutely fantastic for him. It’s very important [that he continues there] to enable him to walk and this is why I want to keep doing this. The thing with cerebral palsy is it’s not going to get any worse, but it can get better so the more we do just now, the more it will help him in the future. Without it, he would really miss out on such an important part of his development. “

Barry arrived in Beijing on September 9 and began his mammoth trek of the Great Wall of China. After returning home, the 54-year-old ran the Loch Ness Marathon, which he completed in under five hours.

He said: “The Great Wall of China was hard because of the steep steps going up quite a height. It was a great experience I really enjoyed it.

“The Loch Ness Marathon was a kind of ‘Brucie Bonus’. I was on Facebook and my friend said he was doing the Loch Ness Marathon and I said ‘I’ll join you pal’ so I could add that as another fundraiser for Callum.

“I hadn’t really trained for it, but I managed to complete it in under five hours, so I was over the moon.

“My goal fund was £2,000 to keep Callum at Craighalbert for another year but when I’ve added up everything from Go Fund Me, sponsor forms and private donations from family and friends, I’m hopeful it’s over £2,000, which would be amazing. I’m absolutely over the moon. Any more that I’ve raised over the fund target, I’m putting into a fund for Callum for next year.

“I want to thank everybody; I just want to thank everyone that supported me.”

Visit www.gofundme.com/f/6bxtwyw for Barry’s Go Fund Me page.