LAST month 36-years-old Jim Bray gave up his job as press officer in the NHS and today (Friday, June 10) sets off on a 630-mile walk to raise funds for two local charities that support cancer patients and their families.

Jim is beginning an eight-week challenge he is calling “Jim’s Journey” to walk the entire South West Coast Path beginning at Minehead and ending at Poole Harbour on August 4. He is due to cross 288 bridges, catch 13 ferries, go up or down more than 30,000 steps and climb more than 115,000 feet (nearly four times the height of Mount Everest) before he gets to Poole. He is raising money for FORCE, the Exeter-based cancer charity and the Seamoor Unit, a new £2.5 million chemotherapy and day treatment centre at North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple.

Jim, who lives in Sampford Peverell, has been communications manager with Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust since 2012.

He discovered the benefits of walking after a spell of ill-health, has enjoyed exploring nature, the coast, moors and rivers and has done parts of the Coast Path.

FORCE provides physical, emotional, psychological and practical assistance to patients and their families from its Support and Information Centre in the grounds of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. The charity supports patients from across Devon, with some travelling from Somerset, Dorset and Cornwall to access its services.

Jim is a member of the South West Coast Path Association, a charity that promotes the Path and raises funds to pay for vital improvements and repairs, especially after winters such as the one we have just had.

To sponsor Jim, visit his Virgin Money Giving page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JimsJourney.