A man is taking part in two sponsored runs to raise money for charity.

Dave Burge, 58 of Preston, Weymouth, ran a 62 mile ‘ultra-challenge’ last year from Poole to Bridport.

This year he is doing two more to raise money for Weymouth-based TheHorseCourse, a charity which offers help for people with mental health and social problems through interaction with horses.

On his JustGiving page, Mr Burge said: “I'm always up for a challenge and there is nothing better than pushing yourself to see what you can achieve.

“I'm taking this opportunity to raise money for a local charity here in Weymouth, TheHorseCourse.

“Their programmes help young adults overcome many challenges they face during their lives using horses is truly amazing.

“Having visited and seen their work in action, I feel that setting myself these two challenges goes someway in helping raise money for TheHorseCourse.”

Mr Burge will do two runs, one on May 25 from London to Brighton, one on August 31 along the south coast.

So far he has raised over £1,100, and his goal is to reach £1,500.

TheHorseCourse aims to help people with mental health and other social difficulties with trained horses that can respond to body language and non-verbal communication.

They identify eight skills for people to develop as part of The ReStart Programme.

Harriet Laurie, CEO and founder of TheHorseCourse, said: “I think our most radical idea is we see calmness as a skill.”

Many people who volunteer for TheHorseCourse are people who have been through their training themselves.

The charity has an 80 per cent success rate with helping people back into education and work.

Ann Hemingway, Senior Lecturer in Public Health at Bournemouth University, said: “Evidence to date indicated that TheHorseCourse provides a very promising range of benefits, particularly for people who are unable or unwilling to make progress in conventional services.

“We are engaged with THC in a range of studies to measure effectiveness and understand change mechanisms.”

More information about TheHorseCourse can be found at thehorsecourse.org

People can sponsor Mr Burge at justgiving.com/fundraising/dave-burge