A visitor from Devon is planning to walk the coastline of the Isle of Man to raise money for Help the Heroes.

For the past eight years, 71-year-old Roger Mechan has been walking the pilgrim trails of France, Spain and the UK, to raise money for good causes.

He has to date covered 2,300 miles and raised a combined total of £43,000.

Roger’s exploits have seen him follow in the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson, who arguably wrote the first travel book when he traversed through the Cevennes area of France in 1878 with a donkey called Modestine.

He has plodded 600 miles from Seville through the remote Extremadura region to the north of Spain, and trekked along the Nantes to Brest canal in Brittany, the latter being a flat walk insisted upon by his surgeon after Roger fell while training on Dartmoor, rupturing his quadriceps.

This year Roger will be walking the entire coastline of the Isle of Man to raise money for Help for Heroes.

’My son-in-law has just started work on the island and until I visited him last year I didn’t quite appreciate what a beautiful and fascinating island it is - full of hidden coves, fascinating history and welcoming people - in short, perfect walking country.

’It also has one of the best public transport systems I’ve ever had the pleasure of travelling on, albeit I won’t be using it on this trip.

’The island is a little gem that everyone should visit.’

Roger gives a talk on his treks and is available to do so any evening he is on the island to interested organisations.

He will be available between May 28 and 31 and July 3 and 8 and can be contacted on 07719 968352 or e-mail [email protected].

He has written a number of books and created blogs and videos of his treks which you can access at: www.justgiving.com/stlukespilgrim or www.justgiving.com/thepilgrim for Help for Heroes.

Help for Heroes is a charity that aids service personnel and military veterans with injuries, illnesses and wounds sustained while serving in the British Armed Forces.