ROGER Mechan from Dousland has raised £203 for Help for Heroes in the last few weeks — the latest in his fundraising efforts that have totalled £28,000 for the charity.

To date 69-year-old Roger has trekked 2200 miles along the pilgrim trails of Europe raising a combined total of £28,000 for Help for Heroes and St Luke’s Hospice.

Roger recently raised £203 for by holding a street collection in Okehampton.

In June Roger hopes to increase that total by walking the 105 miles from Bath Abbey to Westminster Abbey.

Roger said: ‘ I retired as a local police superintendent and became a travel writer for motor caravan magazines. While writing a series of articles on Northern Spain I came across people walking west along the coast. They told me they were pilgrims on their way walking 400 miles to Santiago de Compostela. That spurred my interest and soon I was walking the same routes.

‘I decided that I would do a solo trek each year for charity and have done so since 2011. Clocking up over 2250 miles and raising a combined total of £28000 for Help for Heroes and St Luke’s Hospice. 

Roger said that he enjoys walking, however he has encountered a few difficulties and challenges during his long treks.

‘There is the occasional mishap,’ said Roger.

‘This year, while walking along the north coast of Spain my wife was taken ill and I had to scramble my way back from the middle of nowhere. Fortunately she recovered enough for me to be able to complete the walk later in the year.

‘While I make it a rule to walk on my own this year, a friend who had terminal cancer asked to walk a few miles with me. Sadly he died before he could do it but I was accorded the honour of taking some of his ashes with me and spreading them along the route and into the Atlantic at Finisterre on the coast of Galicia in Norther Spain.

‘In 2017 I will walk from Bath Abbey to Westminister Abbey, and as my wife and I will be celebrating our 70th birthdays and our golden wedding, I decided it would be prudent to go somewhere where I would not get lost.

‘In 2018 though, I will once more be tramping the dusty back roads of Spain when I walk the old wool route from Alicante, 400 miles north to Burgos.

To find out more about Roger’s exploits visit the website www.justgiving.com/stlukespilgrim