A NEWPORT man is set to walk more than 100 miles from St Davids in West Wales to the local St David’s Hospice Care in memory of his mum.

Robert Wiltshire will tackle between 25 and 30 miles a day with the support of four of his friends from work.

The team, who all work for the Gwalia homeless project in Newport, will start their 138 mile walk first thing on Monday June 29 and hope to finish by the afternoon of Friday July 3.

They will tackle the challenge in aid of St David’s Hospice Care, as Robert’s mum Helen Wiltshire was cared for at St Anne’s Hospice, the in-patient unit in Malpas, before her death in March this year.

Helen Wiltshire, who died at the age of 65, suffered from lung, bone and blood cancer.

Robert, 34, praised the support of everyone at St Anne’s Hospice and thanked them for their efforts caring for his mum and other people affected by cancer.

“If the funding wasn’t there they wouldn’t be able to care for people like my mum,” he said

“People in a similar situation shouldn’t have to suffer and I hope our fundraising can help them continue doing what they do.”

Mr Wiltshire, who previously served in the army as a driver with Royal Logistics, and served in Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq, added that he hoped his experience would help him in the challenge ahead.

“I have pushed my body to the extreme tackling long distances, but I have never tried anything like this before," he added.

“Hopefully it will stand me in good stead.”

His friend Marc Zeraschi, 33, said they were looking forward to the challenge.

“It’s a long walk but we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think we could do it,” he said.

Fellow colleague Owen Hooper, 30, added: “It’s for a really good cause so we are determined to finish it.”

The team are also appealing for local businesses to support them.

Robert Wiltshire, Marc Zeraschi, Owen Hooper, Jeff Cook and Craig Swift can be sponsored at http://helen.wiltshire.muchloved.com/