FOUR Bovington-based soldiers who are preparing to go the extra mile for charity have smashed their fundraising target thanks to Echo readers.

The group, which is aiming to run three marathons in 24 hours to raise cash for the Forces Children’s Trust, was originally hoping to raise £5,000 but they are now able to double that target to £10,000 since the article appeared in the Echo.

Sergeant Carl Lewin of the Queen’s Royal Lancers regiment, who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, rallied a team of five runners who agreed to take on the challenge where they will be running along the Jurassic Coast.

He said that since the article appeared in the Echo, the donations began to flood in.

Sgt Lewin will be running alongside Corporal Jack Brown, 23, Captain Jay Ferman, 28, physical training instructor Jonathon Williams, 30, as well as Catterick-based Corporal Philip Gidley, 30.

The fighting-fit team will be striving to run 78 miles along the coastline for the charity which is devoted to helping dependent children who have lost a parent while serving in the armed forces.

They will be leaving Shell Bay in Poole on April 16 at 6pm and they are aiming to arrive at Lyme Regis at around 5pm the following day.

Sgt Lewin said: “To start off with everything was quite low key and I was just getting sponsored by friends and family.

“But once we contacted the Echo things escalated and since that we’ve had so much support.

“Half of the people sponsoring me I don’t even know.

“It really is overwhelming, some individual readers have sponsored up to £50 which is amazing.

“I’d like to thank all those readers and everyone else who donated.”

He also said that the MP for South Dorset Richard Drax also made a personal donation of £50.

Sgt Lewin added that the Children’s Forces Trust had touched the hearts of each member of the team because many of them have children of their own.

The father-of-three said: “There’s a lot of charities that focus on the soldiers themselves that are injured but I think the children and the people who are left behind are overlooked.

“These young children pay the price for the rest of their lives.

“I have three children myself, most of the others have children and we have all been touched by friends who have been killed who have children as well.”

The team will be taking the coastal path from Poole, through Swanage, Lulworth, Weymouth, Abbotsbury and West Bay until they reach Lyme Regis.

If you would like to sponsor Sgt Lewin and his team you can visit their donation website at justgiving.com/carl-lewin or contact Sgt Lewin on 07730 537752.