A bereaved married couple from Macclesfield are to raise thousands for a stillbirth and childloss charity.

Claire Whittingham and Cass Wood will run 170.2 miles this October, across just five days.

They are doing the gruelling challenge to raise money and awareness for a stillborn charity, a year after they lost a child of their own during the second trimester of pregnancy.

Event manager Claire Whittingham, who has lived in Macclesfield for all but three years of her life, told Macclesfield Nub News about why herself and her wife are doing the fundraiser.

"After a long IVF journey we fell pregnant last year and unfortunately met our daughter in a way no parent should ever have too, silently at Stepping Hill after finding out she had passed away," said Claire.

Despite being stillborn, Claire and Cass got to spend more time with their baby than most parents under similar circumstances thanks to a CuddleCot, when they said goodbye to P on September 12 2021. (Image - Claire Whittingham and Cass Wood)

"I was 6 months pregnant at this point. 

"It was during this time we found out about so many amazing charities that helped us massively. 

"One of those being Sunderland stillbirth charity 4Louis, who fund CuddleCots, a device which means bereaved parents like us can have time with their baby. 

"We learnt that many hospitals do not have a CuddleCot, so it became our mission to raise money to help the charity fund the equipment for every hospital that needs one, in memory of our daughter P."

A cuddle cot allows parents to spend up to three days with their baby, to help deal with childloss. (Image - 4Louis)

CuddleCots work by keeping the body of the baby cool, while keeping them comfortable. It helps preserve the body of the newly-deceased child for days, which allows parents to grieve and cuddle their child for precious extra time.

While Macclesfield Hospital does have a CuddleCot, their maternity services were shut (and still are) currently, hence why Claire had to go to Stockport, which thankfully had a CuddleCot.

But the distribution of CuddleCots remain inconsistent throughout the UK, a fact that Claire hopes to change through a crowdfunder.

"To do this we have decided to go big, and have come up with an epic running challenge," explained Claire.

They will take on the challenge just over a year after they lost their baby. (Image - Instagram @ the_way_of_the_roses)

"In October this year we will be running The Way of The Roses cycle route which equates to an ultra marathon a day for five days. 

"Neither of us have ran further than a half marathon before, but we are determined for our daughter to make a difference to this world and for that reason alone we know we will manage it."

Aside the odd 5K run, Claire's only previous athletic experience of note is being a former Macclesfield Town Ladies women's footballer. But it was her partner Cass who came up with the idea.

So far, they have raised over £3600 as of publication, four months before their challenge has even began.

4Louis was founded in 2009. And provides support for families affected by the loss of a baby or child. (Image - 4Louis)

This would pay for two CuddleCots, which costs around £1500.

They now hope to raise £10,000, which could pay for six-and-a-half CuddleCots.

"We were being ambitious with our target," added Claire.

"But we didn't think we'd get past the few thousand mark this quickly.

94 people have already donated to Claire and Cass' epic charity challenge, with less than four months to go. (Image - Instagram @ the_way_of_the_roses)

"Thank you to everyone who has donated - or will donate.

"When we contacted the charity, they told us they had 26 hospitals across the country who wanted a CuddleCot.

"As well as the mainland, they also supply CuddleCots to the Channel Islands and Cyprus as well.

"As they had already supplied Stepping Hill with one, for us, that was priceless. It gave us time with our daughter which we wouldn't have been able to have, had they not got the CuddleCot.

"Although we don't want anyone to have to use it, we know that anyone from this area can have that time thanks to 4Louis."

Victoria Usher, Trustee of 4Louis are grateful for the incredible amount of money the Macclesfield couple will raise for them.

"Cass and Claire are such incredible people," said Victoria.

"To go through such a traumatic experience like losing a child and to come out of that, wanting to help others going through the same thing is inspiring.

They are running the equivalent of almost 55 5k runs in five days.

"They have raised an amazing amount so far and are not close to being finished!

"This will allow us to donate a Cuddle Cot in memory of their beautiful P and continue to help so many families to have that precious extra time with their little one."

Miscarriage support charity 4Louis have helped over 380 couples across the UK.

You can find more about them by clicking here.

Macclesfield: You can donate to Claire and Cass' challenge by clicking here.

You can also follow their social media for updates, such as Instagram or Facebook. They also have a website.

If you have a charity fundraiser going on in Macclesfield, you can promote it for FREE on our What's On Section. 

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