BEFORE 2010 Keith Spicer was not a serious walker.

But after suffering with stress and then supporting his niece after she lost her first child late into her pregnancy he decided to lace up his walking boots and take to the pavements.

Now the 50-year-old, right, from Sarisbury Green will walk the length of the country to raise money for Sands, a charity that helped his niece Lorraine Gibbs.

The 1,011-mile journey from Land’s End to John o’Groats will take 73 days and will take him through Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, past Birmingham, through Derbyshire and Cumbria and across western Scotland from Glasgow to Inverness before finally arriving at John o’Groats.

Before setting off Keith, his wife Pam Spicer and their neighbour Lorna Davis organised a quiz night and a bingo event at Sarisbury Athletic Cricket Club which has helped him smash his £5,000 fundraising target.

The money will help the stillbirth and neonatal death charity continue to support parents who have lost a child.

The Office of National Statistics statistician and dad-of-one said: “Sands gave Lorraine a lot of support and she now helps them as part of a support group. She was the person who inspired me to select the charity.

“It’s quite emotional and it happened quite quickly. We’ve never had anything quite like this in our family before and particularly as it was her first child.

“I wanted something that was a little bit different.

“There are plenty of people who have done this before but they tend to be people who have walked before.

“I have been overwhelmed by everyone’s support and generosity and it is this thought which will motivate and inspire me if the going gets tough.”

For more information or to donate, visit justgiving.com/Keith-Spicer1.

He will also be blogging along the way on spiceboy80.wordpress.com.