Hadfield charity celebrates raising £50k in first year

The charity, the only of its kind in the UK, was launched by Pete Wallroth, of Hadfield, on June 18 last year in memory of his wife Mair, who lost her battle with breast cancer in December 2012, two months after the birth of their second child.

Pete, dad to Martha, five, and Merlin, one, set up Mummy’s Star after discovering a lack of information and support available to women and families in similar circumstances.

He said: “What an incredible year; the support that we have received has been amazing and humbling! The area has really taken Mummy’s Star to their hearts and almost adopted us as their own, from holding cake sales and non-uniform days to the Gloss opera at Christmas and the fabulous Mummies Lunch Club Winter Ball in February. In December we were even fortunate enough to receive £3,500 from Manchester City defender Micah Richards following a Twitter campaign and this quickly followed with news that we’d received £10,000 from the Lottery.”

Pete added: “We are now working with nearly 40 women nationally, have issued £10,000 of grants to women and families and are working very closely with Teenage Cancer Trust, Clic Sargent, The Christie and Homestart UK. We have an incredible amount of work to do in order to ensure that we maintain the momentum of the first year and ensure that more and more women find out about us. For some, talking to someone is bringing relief, for some it’s financial support but for many it is simply knowing that there is now a charity there who they know understands the unique situation they have found themselves in and that can support them.”