Preston man scaling Ben Nevis for Baby Beat

Chris, who is taking on the Ben Nevis challenge, with daughters Aurora and Riven

A Preston man is taking on a high-scale challenge to climb Ben Nevis for a local baby charity.

Chris Wilding, 31, is taking on the highest mountain in Scotland in a bid to raise £1,000 for Baby Beat, a maternity services charity at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, who helped him and his family through a very challenging time.

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Doctors had noticed that there were unexplained pockets of fluid evident on their baby’s scans and said there was a potential that their baby may have a kidney missing so their pregnancy had to be closely monitored.

Chris said: “I’ve chosen to do the challenge because I felt the cause warranted me doing something completely out of my comfort zone because Baby Beat is something that my wife and I feel very connected to.

“We were very fortunate that Riven is healthy and well but it left me thinking that I honestly could not imagine what it must be like if that wasn’t the case because our situation was so distressing.

“After that, I decided that Baby Beat was a charity that I needed to support to try to ensure that they can get whatever they need to help families and babies to prevent as much distress as possible.”

Chris lives in Preston with his wife, Heather, and two beautiful daughters; Aurora, 2, and Riven, who is now a healthy eight-week-old baby.

He is pushing himself out of his comfort zone with this challenge and wanted to shock people with what he is attempting to gain their support.

He said: “For some people, this may not seem a huge challenge, but in a very short space of time I have gone from competing in the qualifier for England’s Strongest Man competition to climbing the highest mountain in the country.

“Through the strength training, the cardio aspect of this challenge is completely different to what I am used to and one that people have been very surprised I would take on.”

Chris will climb Ben Nevis on Saturday 12 June with the support of his friend David Openshaw, who is very experienced with climbs such as this.

The money raised for Baby Beat will go towards support, research and care for unborn and newly born babies and mums and mums-to-be. It will provide funds for projects that they have in place at this time.

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Chris added: “It is massively important that we all support each other, especially in the current pandemic. Covid-19 has had such a devastating impact on everybody one way or another.

“It is so important that we care for our most vulnerable. Unborn and newborn babies are 100% reliant on their families and support networks. They are unable to care for themselves in any aspect of their lives which is why the work Baby Beat is doing is so incredible to provide our local community’s most vulnerable with the best quality of life possible.”

“The fact that a nationally known company like Barratt and David Wilson Homes has shown an interest in my challenge is amazing in itself but the fact that they’ve gone out of their way to make a very generous donation to provide support to families at their most distressing time shows the incredible, caring culture within the organisation.”

To support Chris in his fundraising efforts, visit here.