TWO adventurers will be running and kayaking across the Scottish Highlands in memory of a young man who died after a struggle with mental illness.

Phil Ward, aged 42, and Antony Griffiths, 43, of West Malvern, want to raise £10,000 for mental health charity Mind by doing the 74-mile Fort William to Inverness challenge in June.

They aim to commemorate Al May, Mr Ward’s nephew, who died in December after battling bipolar disorder. Mr May, of Carlisle, had recently completed training as a volunteer advocate for Mind.

The two, along with another friend, Olly Astles-Jones, from Oxfordshire, will cover 44 miles in two days across some of Scotland’s most mountainous territory.

On the third day they will kayak the length of Loch Ness. Mr Ward said: “We’re reasonably fit, but we’re not super athletes. We haven’t done so much as a half-marathon before, so we’re training pretty hard.”

He said that his nephew was one of the gentlest people he has ever known who never had a bad word to say about anyone.

“Things were never easy for Al, but he worked hard to drag himself out of some dark places and was very much on the way to a more fulfilling life. He was studying towards a career in mental health because he felt he had a lot to offer those who needed to have support.”