Schoolboy Callum has taken on a 140-mile running challenge in memory of the sister he never had the chance to meet.

Running shoes at the ready, Callum's now on the home straight of his challenge.

Callum Hilditch, of Halfway House, near Shrewsbury, is running the distance from our Hope House to Tŷ Gobaith hospices over three months – a total distance of 140 miles. So far, he’s covered more than half the distance and is on track to raise £400.

Callum, aged 14, is a Year Nine pupil at Mary Webb School, Pontesbury. He has no previous running experience. However, he was keen to take on the feat to recognise how the hospice supported his mum after the loss of his unborn sister, who he named Poppet while his mum was pregnant.

His mum Jessica said: “Callum’s been running four miles, three times a week, through some miserable weather. I’m so proud of him.

“Hope House is very personal to us. I gave birth to a sleeping baby in 2015 when Callum was just eight years old.

“The counselling I received through Hope House helped me through an incredibly tough time.

“At my 20-week scan, it was shown that my baby had two rare conditions that affected her heart and development.

“I lost her when I was 28 weeks pregnant on 12th March 2015.”

Poppet's Garden is a special place of remembrance for Callum and his family.

Getting life back on track

Our counselling teams provided supported Jessica through this difficult time.

“The grief of losing my unborn baby was horrendous and finding a counsellor who I felt comfortable with and could talk to freely had a major impact on getting my life back on track,” she said.

Jessica has taken part in previous charity events for us and is very proud to see Callum raising money too.

“I wanted to give something back. If Poppet had been born she would probably have also needed Hope House’s services. I wanted to help other families who need the hospice’s support.”

Callum, who is better known for his drumming and tap-dancing skills, has been logging and sharing his runs on running app Strava. He can also use the charity challenge as part of his Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

Bekki Fardoe, one of our area fundraisers, said: “We are grateful to Callum and his family for their support. We’re enjoying following the progress on his Facebook page and are so impressed with his running and fundraising efforts. Hopefully he’ll be able to enjoy running in some drier spring weather before he completes his challenge next month.

“Personal fundraising challenges like Callum’s mean the world to us, and without them we wouldn’t be here for the local families that really need us.”

Sponsor Callum