A former Royal Marine has given his thanks to all those who donated towards his fundraising efforts when he took on an 800-mile charity challenge in memory of his late wife.

Thomas Malcolm Owen Davies, of Henllan, near Llandysul, known as Taff to all his Royal Marine colleagues, lost his wife Audrey to cancer in October 2005 and has since devoted hundreds of hours to raising funds and awareness for charitable groups.

The challenge saw Taff yomp from Arbroath in Scotland, where he started his military career, to Poole in Dorset, where he ended his service 25 years later.

Audrey had a strong desire to take up hiking prior to her death and had set her sights on walking the West Highland Way and Hadrian's Wall.

"She didn't recover, so I completed both on her behalf, and had it not been for her penchant for walking, I would more than likely not have attempted the yomps," explained Taff.

Over the past six years he has completed a series of walks on behalf of Cancer Research, including Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis for Breast Cancer.

"Someone suggested I should try walking from Arbroath to Poole, which I immediately laughed at as I was approaching my 60th birthday," said Taff, who has family in the Narberth area.

"But after six months of thinking about it and looking back at the good life the Corps had given me and my wife, I thought about the amount of injuries that today's Marines and families have to live with. I knew then that I had to give it a try and raise monies towards making their lives a little bit easier to cope with.

"It must have been the worst summer we have ever had, wet most of the time, but I would like to thank everyone who supported my online Walk Aid page on Facebook and also all friends, relatives and everyone who donated monies from Henllan, Narberth, Aberporth, Newcastle Emlyn and other areas in Wales," added Taff, who raised funds for Breast Cancer Care, SBS Association and The Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund.

Donations and sponsorship can be made at Taff's justgiving.com/ArbroathtoPoole page or at http://www.bmycharity.com">www.bmycharity.com