A hairdresser who hails from Tenby substitued his styling scissors for cycling spokes last week when he set out on a a 350 mile challenge from London to Amsterdam to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society and awareness of dementia.

Christian Torkington who now lives in Cardiff where he runs three successful hairdressing salons trading as Guy Christian, is the son of Steve and Tina Torkington if Tenby.

His dad passed away two years ago of Alzheimer’s and cerebrovascular disease and he has undertaken the fundraising challenge in memory of him.

On Wednesday, June 6, Christian, along with friends - Matthew Powell, Charles Dyer and Gareth Aynge, set off on their way heading from London to Calais on their charity adventure, taking on between 80-95 miles each day.

Towards the fundraising, Christian ran a raffle through his salons raising £2,500, which included a prize of a year’s haridressing.

The group have already raised over an incredible £10,000 for the cause.

Prior to signing up to the challenge Christian, who lives with his wife and two children, hadn’t been on a bike in years and never thought that he could take on something as big as this.

“Anyone who’s been affected by Alzheimers/Dementia will know what a cruel disease this is,” said Christian.

“Some say the family and friends suffer just as much as the sufferer because of the amount of care required as the condition advances, and my dad was lucky to have my mum to look after him for as long as she could and he was then lucky enough to go into a care home where the staff were kind, patient and understanding, not just of his condition, but of what my mum was going through.

“These guys at the Brooklands Nursing home really are unsung heroes in my eyes.

“Dementia slowly robbed my dad of his intellect and personality and it’s about time we all pulled together to try to stop others like him from suffe“ring the same fate.

“With people living longer by the generation, Dementia is set to become the biggest epidemic of our time,” he added.

Anyone wishing to donate to the fundraising challenge can view the website at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/guychristian