A man who is on a mission to walk 9,500 miles around the coast of Britain and Ireland to raise money for charity has reached Orkney.
Alex Ellis-Roswell said he had received an “incredible” welcome from local residents as he arrived on the northern isles for the latest leg of his gruelling journey.
The 24-year-old left his home in Kent in August 2014 to embark on the life-changing trip, and has already raised more than £40,000 for the RNLI.
He is due to spend about two weeks walking the coastline and visiting the Stromness, Longhope and Kirkwall lifeboat station, before heading to Shetland.
Mr Ellis-Roswell has already travelled around the south coast of England, the Welsh coast and walked around the Isle of Man.
He reached the Outer Hebrides in January and embarked on a 200-mile clockwise walk around the Isle of Skye in February.
Speaking from Orkney, he said: “I arrived on Thursday just gone. I’m going to walk around the mainland, going to walk around Hoy and then walk around Shetland, then go back to Scrabster, down the east coast of Scotland, east coast of England, London and then finish off in Kent where I started, hopefully in December or January coming.
“I’ve always been on the water in one way or another, so the RNLI has been a really important charity. We lost dad in 2013 so I was trying to do something positive and decided to try and raise as much money as possible for this charity.
“The target is £50,000 and we’re probably going to hit that in the next couple of weeks. We’re just trying to raise as much money as possible.
“The money that goes in the bucket stays local, it goes to the lifeboat stations, and there’s an online page as well.”
Mr Ellis-Roswell said he had been taken aback by the welcome he had received on the northern isles and urged well-wishers to follow his progress on his social media websites.
“The support that I’ve received in Orkney so far has been incredible. People putting me up for free, and meals and lots of cars stopping and donating,” he said.
“I won’t know how much I’ve raised in Orkney until I’ve finished it but I think it’s going to be a really good amount.”
Donations can be made online at:
https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/longwalkround