A father, who lost his wife to cancer when their youngest child was just three months old, is to take on the challenge of Snowdon to raise funds for a vital voluntary service that will support new mothers who are unable to breastfeed.

Pete Wallroth, from Hadfield in Greater Manchester, will climb Snowden in Wales in an effort to raise funds for North West Blood Bikes Manchester, a service that sees volunteer riders deliver blood and other vital medical supplies out of hours to hospitals and medical centres across Greater Manchester. The charity is also the official charity of the year for Carole Nash.

Peter’s late wife Mair, who tragically passed away last December at the age of 41, was unable to breastfeed their youngest child Merlin after she was diagnosed with breast cancer mid-way through her pregnancy.

As a result, the couple depended on the deliveries from the volunteers at NWBBM to their home in Hatfield, giving their son the same start in life as his three-year-old sister Martha.

And volunteers from the charity were so inspired by the difference that it made to the family that they even decided to raise money for a dedicated milk bike – named Merlin.

“With everything that happened, we always made a commitment to carry on supporting the milk bike and the blood bike wherever we could,” Pete told the Manchester Evening News.

“We want to raise awareness of the charity as well. It was a charity we hadn’t heard of until we needed it and when we were told of the option of getting donor breast milk it was a massive surprise but it came as a major boost.”

Pete will take on the challenge of climbing the 1,085m peak on 19 May, which is the tenth anniversary of the milk bank at the Countess of Chester hospital, which supplies donor milk to the Greater Manchester area.

Volunteers who wish to join Pete on the walk are welcome to do so. To find out how to get involved, please email Clare Redfern at [email protected].