Six-year-old climbs six out of 12 mountains to raise money for Derian House Children's Hospice

In a bid to raise much needed funds for Chorley Children's Hospice Derian House and send families on much needed holidays, Oscar Burrow and his father Matt put their heads together to come up with a plan to climb the equivalent of Mount Everest (8,849m) across 12 UK mountains to raise £8,849 – the height of Mount Everest in metres. So far they have completed six mountains including Ingleborough (455m) last October. The pair have even appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live earlier this month chatting to presenter and Strictly Come Dancing contestant Helen Skelton about how their challenge is going.

Oscar said: "We learnt about Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay which has inspired me to want to be the youngest person to climb Mount Everest, but I need to practice first. I am walking mountains because I want to help poorly children. This will be a huge challenge for me so thought it would be a great way to raise money to help support children and their families when they are facing much harder challenges in their lives. I have just started out on this journey and so far I have climbed six of the 12 mountains - only six more to go."

Oscar’s dad Matt added: “Oscar has an amazing attitude – he’s a superstar. Speaking with Helen Skelton on the radio was brilliant. So many people donated on our JustGiving page afterwards – and it was great to see that many of those left such kind messages to congratulate Oscar on what he’s doing. Oscar’s mantra is ‘he who dares, wins!’ – a phrase taken from Del Boy in BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. He is always aiming higher – he’ll say ‘what if we pass the goal?’

“We’ve been inundated with people who want to support Oscar and people who want to join us on the climbs. It’s just incredible that this was something that Oscar wanted to do. He wants to help send poorly children and their families on holiday. It wouldn't surprise me if one day he actually goes and climbs Mount Everest for real.”

Kerry Pritchard, Community Fundraiser at Derian House, said: “We are all astonished at what little Oscar is doing – he is incredibly brave and generous. We are so grateful that he has chosen to raise money to send our families on holiday as it will mean the world to them.”

He will finish his challenge with a grand finale and will climb Ben Nevis, the highest in Scotland, on the 70th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Mt Everest by Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay (29 May).

Oscar will complete his seventh mountain of Snowden in February with his school friend, Ollie. He added: “I can’t wait to climb Snowdon next because I get to do it with my friend Ollie Perkins and together we can keep raising more money to send one of Derian’s families on holiday.”

You can follow Oscar's progress on his Facebook page - Oscar's Everest Walk for Derian House Children's Hospice.

To donate to Oscar's JustGiving page CLICK HERE.