Mathew Carver from St Clement is taking on the mammoth challenge called 'Race Across Scotland' to raise money for charity.

The 36-year-old restaurant owner, and businessman, who lives in London decided to take on the ultramarathon to raise money for ShelterBox.

Taking up running in lockdown, The Cheese Bar's owner found solace in running after struggling with closing his eateries to follow the pandemic's guidance.

Since then, Mathew has found he enjoys the personal challenges running brings and is now training 15 to 20 hours a week for the race.

"I think I'm the kind of person who likes a bit of a challenge... and the challenge became 'How Much Further Could You Run?'...and then it evolved...

"I saw this Race Across Scotland, and I thought 'Oh? I wonder if I could run 215 miles... in one go.'"

The avid runner's personal best is 45 miles and he is determined to finish the upcoming race, which is five times that distance, in 65 hours.

"I think the closer it becomes it turns from excitement into anticipation and nervousness.

"Having read up on this sort of thing and talking to people who have done similar things, you sort of need so many things to go right in the time.

"You don't really want to get sick beforehand or risk hurting your leg."

ShelterBox is a charity that supports people left homeless by earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria and those affected by the war in Ukraine.

More than 100 million people are forced to leave their homes annually due to conflict or disaster.

The charity provides emergency shelter and essential items like food and toiletries to people starting all over again in areas such as Cameroon, Mozambique, Yemen and Burkina Faso.

Mathew has not had the chance to chat about fundraising efforts until now, as he has been busy training and running his businesses.

His goal is to raise £1,500, and so far he is just shy of a third of the way there.

However, since starting to rest before the big weekend on 12 to 16 August, he is focusing efforts on raising more money on his JustGiving page.