Ex-soldier who served alongside Prince Harry and Prince William to run entire UK coastline for charity he founded supporting veterans

Paul Minter, 36, is more than halfway through a gruelling seven-month challenge which he began in Liverpool on March 1 as part of a group mission to raise £3m to develop a mindset retreat for veterans under his charity, Head Up.

The 5,000-mile feat will raise awareness on route of ways ex-armed forces members can access help through his charity as he’ll carry a 4ft ‘Head Up’ flag while supporting a 10kg bag on his back, chatting to people on the way to promote the cause.

The resident of London, who served in the army for 18 years, was inspired to take on the challenge following the loss of friends who took their own life while he served on the frontline.

Through this momentous marathon Paul wants to ‘capture those falling through the cracks’ and help as ‘many people as possible’ who struggle with their mental health.

So far £38,870 has been raised on his JustGiving page for the challenge with about £368,000 generated from fundraising in total ahead of the charity’s development.

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He said: ‘We're on a mission to develop a seven0day positive mindset retreat in the heart of Worcestershire in the centre of the UK which will be more accessible for those that can use it.

‘We're going to give people a thorough understanding and an awareness of things like nutrition and what they put in their bodies and what they don't put in their body, the effect it has on us mentally.

‘We decided four of us were all extremely passionate about the cause and we wanted to do something individually to try and get the name of the charity out there, let the people know who can use our services and let them know that we are around.’

During his career, Paul was ‘honoured’ to serve in The Household Cavalry regiment with Prince William from 2006 to 2007 and Prince Harry who was in the adjacent squadron at the same time as Paul from 2006-2008.

So far, Paul has run more than 2,700 miles and by October 1 he will have finished his endeavour amounting to 191 marathons.

He is currently running an average of 30 miles a day to reach his goal.

Starting in Liverpool, Paul has since been running clockwise across the UK where he’s covered Scotland, the east coast, the south east and the Isle of Wight.

He’s currently scaling the Dorset coastline where he’ll continue to Cornwall, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man before returning to Liverpool.

Speaking on why he wanted to do the feat, Paul said: ‘I love a challenge and I love pushing my body as far as I can.

‘I just thought, let's utilise that and I thought if I can run around the UK and fly the flag and spread the word and let as many people know about the charity as possible, get some backing and also network with people at different organisations. I've had hundreds and hundreds of people run with me at different times throughout the run so far.’