A DAD of three from Crediton is dusting off his running shoes in support of a national charity dedicated to fighting melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer.

He has set himself the challenge of completing four half marathons in six weeks.

He will start with the Bridgwater Half Marathon on September 6 and ending with the Exeter Half Marathon (the Great West Run) on 18 October, with the Truro and Salisbury Halfs in between.

Andy Lloyd, a member of the Fleet Air Arm based at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose near Helston, Cornwall, knows at first hand how important it is to raise awareness of this disease. After being diagnosed with melanoma he has been inspired to do something extra and different to help fight this disease.

Simon Rodwell, the charity’s CEO, said: "We are extremely grateful to Andy’s generous friends and family for supporting Melanoma Focus.

"We urgently need more people to raise funds for our battle against melanoma.

"There is no better way than to run a half marathon – but running four half marathon’s in six weeks will be a brilliant achievement."

Although it’s a fairly rare disease, melanoma is the UK’s fastest-growing cancer, with over 13,000 new cases reported every year. Melanoma Focus is dedicated to improving treatment and diagnosis for patients.

One of the ways it is doing this is through the charity’s Patient Impact Programme, which will need to raise £200,000 over the coming few years for the scientific studies it is supporting to investigate various aspects of the disease.

To support Andy visit https://www.justgiving.com/Andy-Lloyd7/