A woman from Helston has raised more than £400 by climbing Mount Snowdon for military children’s charity Little Troopers.

Sian Smith is one of 60 fundraisers who have individually conquered the highest mountain in Wales this month to help support Little Troopers after it was forced to cancel its group climb in May due to the Covid lockdown.

Sian’s dad served in the British Army and she grew up in a military family, spending most of her teenager years living in Cornwall.

In 2017 she married her husband Joe who is currently serving with the Royal Navy at RNAS Culdrose.

She decided to raise money for Little Troopers following her own experience of being a military child and from seeing friends use the charity’s resources.

Sian said: “Unless you are in a military family you don’t really understand how challenging it can be to have a parent serving away from home.

"Younger children might not really understand why their parent is away from home and older children can find it tough to move home a lot and sometimes struggle with their identity and sense of belonging.

Falmouth Packet:

Sian on the climb

"There wasn’t anything like Little Troopers around when I was little and I think the charity is really needed and is doing amazing work to support military children, which is why I chose to take on the Snowdon challenge.

“I’ve never climbed a mountain before and I trained for it by walking around the coast and climbing Brown Willy hill on Bodmin Moor but that was nothing compared to Snowdon.

"It was so challenging, especially as I did the climb on my own, but I kept receiving messages from my sponsors on social media and that spurred me on to get to the top.”

Louise Fetigan, founder of Little Troopers, said the Mount Snowdon climb was supposed to be the charity's biggest fundraising event of 2020, adding: "We are so thankful to Sian and all our fundraisers who have supported us by completing their mountain challenge, whether that be in Wales or from home. Every penny makes a huge difference to our small charity.”

Little Troopers was founded in 2011 to support service children who have a parent serving in the British Armed Forces, either as a regular or reserve.

These children often face challenges including frequent house and school moves, as well as regular periods of separation from their serving parent or parents.

The charity provides resources to support children during these times including a free story recording app for families, an online information hub with downloadable activities, separation packs and a newly launched Little Troopers Letters pack for service children who are due to move home soon and wish to keep in touch with a close friend they will be leaving behind.

The charity also runs an ‘In School’ project offering dedicated courses for primary schools, with new secondary school resources due to launch later this month.