Ken Blakeman. Photo: Kinder MRT

A variety performance by young people will be staged in memory of a mountain rescue volunteer who died while on a callout.

The Manchester event has been organised by friends and family of Ken Blakeman, a longstanding member of the Kinder Mountain Rescue Team.

Ken Blakeman collapsed and died while on a rescue mission on Kinder Scout in July last year, after a call for help from a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award participant. Despite the best efforts of his team-mates and paramedics, he could not be saved.

He was the Kinder MRT chairman and also chaired the umbrella body for the area’s teams, the Peak District Mountain Rescue Organisation. Mr Blakeman had been a mountain rescue volunteer for more than 40 years.

The Holding out for a Hero event will take place at the Dancehouse Theatre on Oxford Road, Manchester, on Sunday 26 February. It is described as a variety show of music and dance with children and young people, including a guest celebrity appearance.

A Kinder MRT spokesperson said: “A proud father and grandfather, Ken’s passing was mourned at the time by people from as far away as Australia who remembered him from their youth in Stockport when they played with the community football team that Ken supported.

“An incredibly modest and humble man, Ken was immensely generous in both spirit and deed; he was, indeed, every bit the unsung, everyday hero.”

Money from the Manchester show will go to help the team with its annual running costs of about £25,000.

Tickets can be booked online or obtained from the theatre box office.