A Kearsley man who is afraid of heights will be abseiling down Bolton Wanderers' Toughsheet Community Stadium in aid of a food bank.

Pete Hopkinson told The Bolton News that he "wouldn’t be here" without the help of Farnworth and Kearsley Foodbank after he spent time in hospital and "almost died".

Now – despite being afraid of heights – he plans to abseil down the side of the stadium in aid of the food bank, as part of the Bolton Wanderers Community Charity Abseil event on Sunday, September 15.

Speaking to The Bolton News, Pete said: “I am completely s*** scared of heights – and I mean totally, I can’t even climb a ladder without panicking.

“I am scared of everything, it’s hilarious.”

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He added: “I’ve interviewed serving cabinet ministers and this is more scary.”

After a stay in hospital, Pete said he had nothing to his name – but Farnworth and Kearsley Foodbank came to the rescue. Now, he says nothing will phase him anymore.

He said: “I had a bag of clothes, that was it. Benefits were taking a while to catch up, I’d only got my first flat on my own – they stepped in and helped me.

“There was one point where my gas went wrong, they stepped in and sorted out vouchers. They’re doing this day in, day out for some of the most vulnerable people in our society, and I just want to give back to them.

“They’re a little known food bank – it’s Farnworth, you wouldn’t think such a thing well exists in Farnworth, it’s amazing.

"Not only do they help people with the food and the basics, but they do debt advice – they’ve got projects, they’ve got energy and heat advisors in there that can help people.

“I just want to give back to them when they made sure that anything I needed I got.”

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Pete is hoping to raise £120 ahead of his abseiling. Donations can be made through TotalGiving.

He added: “I am s*** scared, do you know what I mean? I’m literally sat there thinking ‘oh my god, oh my god, I must be a teeny bit insane’.

“But it’s going to happen, I’m going to do it – I am kind of scared, totally – but at the same time I know for a fact that hopefully if I can raise the £120 I need to raise, hopefully a bit more, it means they can feed more people and get more people out of that trap.

“A bit of uncomfortableness for me will help other people, so I can cope with that.”

If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Bolton. Please get in touch at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk.