A sports centre manager from Melksham is organising a 191-mile walk to raise money for a teenage cancer charity as his former girlfriend had the disease.

Harry Elias, 25, duty manager at the Christie Miller Sports Centre in Bowerhill, will be joined by around five friends when he undertakes the walk from Minehead to Newquay in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust in June.

This is not the first charity walk Mr Elias has done, after having already walked from Plymouth to Newquay for Cancer Research UK, raising £3,000 for the charity in 2007 just before he finished his sports management degree at Plymouth University.

His commitment to raising money for cancer charities stemmed from his experience at university when his then girlfriend, Lucy, was diagnosed with both lung and ovarian cancer just weeks before her father, Richard, was diagnosed with lung cancer.

He said: “She found it hard to deal with at the time and it was a very hard time for us. We are not together now, but I know that she and her father have both been in and out of remission.

“I did the first walk for a cancer charity in 2007 just before the last year of uni. Lucy and I weren’t together then, but it was a cause close to my heart.”

Mr Elias, from Neston near Corsham, wants to raise £5,000 and is being supported by his old university friends. The walk will take about 12 days to complete and involve camping every night.

As well as the walk, his bosses at the Christie Miller Centre, which is run by DC Leisure, have agreed to give him hall space to host a World Cup themed five-a-side football tournament for groups of friends aged 16 and over with prizes for winning teams.

The event, on May 22 and 23, will include a bar, and each team will pay £40 to enter, split between a maximum of seven team members.

The majority of the money will go towards Teenage Cancer Trust, with about 20 per cent covering costs.

Mr Elias said: “We want to make it as fun as possible, but there will be trophies for winners. People can even come and take part in fancy dress if they want and each team will be allocated a World Cup team to represent beforehand.”

He said that support had come from Colborne Trophies Ltd in Trowbridge, who were providing the prizes free of charge and D J Sports who were providing bibs.

To donate, go to www.justgiving.com/NewquaytoMineheadCoastalwalk.