AN ex-soldier from Northwich has completed a coast-to-coast walking challenge to raise money for those affected by the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

Paul Wright set out to walk from Liverpool and through Manchester, before heading over the Pennines, to Huddersfield, Wakefield and Pontefract to finish in Hull. 

More than 144 miles later, Paul crossed the finish line on his charity challenge, raising £1,280 in the process.

But he wasn’t meant to cross the finish line alone; Paul had originally planned to complete the walk with his friend Chris Phillips.

Paul, who served in the Royal Dragoon Guards, explained: “We both got the week off work and said, ‘how about we both walk from Liverpool to Hull?’

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“We were talking and then the conversation turned to ‘shall we do it for charity?’

“So, we set a target and we got all our things together.”

The pair set off on May 13 but just eight miles into the walk Chris became injured, leaving Paul to carry on the challenge without him.

Over five days, Paul walked 310,782 steps, equalling 144.36 miles, with 52.45 hours of total moving time and 15,550 calories burned.

Paul wants his charity story to inspire people to never give up and remind everyone ‘once you put your mind to something, anything is possible’.

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“Fourteen months ago, I was 18 stone – there was no way I would have been able to do this,” Paul said.

“But my message is if you focus and are prepared to take the baby steps, you can do it.”

As well as the walk being a proud moment for Paul, he has raised an incredible amount of money to help those in need.

If you would like to support Paul’s efforts, you can donate online at justgiving.com/fundraising/paul-wright147?.

Paul added: “I would like to take a moment to thank everyone that has been involved from start to finish, from the donations before the first step that was taken to the messages of support that have given me the motivation to see this through.”