The chairman of the Okehampton Royal British Legion (RBL) branch will be walking 38 miles across Dartmoor over a weekend this June to raise money for the branch.

Accompanied by his trusty canine companion, Bruce, Darren Kelly will complete the newly-established Okehampton Moorland Trek, which is set to take place from June 2-4, to raise money for the Okehampton RBL branch. Mr Kelly will also undertake the challenge in memory of veteran and past branch standard bearer Mark Murdoch, who passed away in December.

Mr Kelly said: ‘The idea came from a 121-mile walk to raise money for the Royal British Legion in November — that’s distance between all the cenotaphs in London.’ He has done the majority of it ‘but I was 38 miles short. So, I came up with the idea that I would do the remaining 38 miles over a weekend and do an overnight stay. Then we lost Mark in December last year — he was going to do the walk with me. So, it’s a sentiment to Mark really. He was a decent man. If I can honour him by doing this, then at least somebody is doing something for him.’

The walk will end at the Royal British Legion Club at 3 Station Road, Okehampton EX20 1DY, where there will be a reception and buffet.

Mr Kelly hopes to be able to raise at least £1,000 which will go towards supporting the armed forces community and is encouraging the whole Okehampton community to get involved whether that be joining him on the walk, donating money or sponsoring him.

He also hopes that the walk will become an annual event until well into the future.

A well-loved member of the Okehampton RBL branch, Mr Murdoch had spent time creating a memory tree in the club’s garden for people to place memorials on behalf of their loved ones who have passed away. Following his death, his became the first name hung on the tree.

The RBL supports serving and ex-serving personnel of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, British Army, Royal Air Force, Reservists and their families from their first day of service to long after their life in the armed forces.

The charity helps veterans, young and old, get adapted to civilian life, helping with physical and mental wellbeing, financial and employment support, care and independent living, local community connections and expert guidance.

The RBL was established in 1921 and today has 210,000 members and 50,000 volunteers. Anyone wishing to donate to the Moorland Trek can do so by visiting the GoFundMe page at https://gofund.me/277ae233.

Anyone interested can also contact Mr Kelly at [email protected] or branch community support officer Joe Endacott at [email protected].