A former Royal Marine Commando from Surrey will be running the Virgin Money London Marathon in aid of Combat Stress, the UK’s leading veterans’ mental health charity.

On 23 April, Steve Mansfield will run 26.2 miles in the Virgin Money London Marathon, one of the three fundraising events he is taking part in to raise money for Combat Stress. Steve completed his first fundraising event for the charity, the Royal Parks Half Marathon last October, finishing in under one and a half hours. In July he will take part in the final event, the UK IRONMAN, a long distance triathlon consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile cycle and a 26.2 mile run.

Paralympian and former Royal Marine, Joe Townsend visited veterans’ mental health charity Combat Stress last week at their Surrey based treatment centre to hand over the funds he raised for the charity.

Joe got involved with Combat Stress last year after taking part in the #22PushupChallenge, a viral social media campaign that aimed to raise awareness and support for veterans’ mental health. Putting his own spin on the challenge Joe completed an alternative type of push-up, called planche push-ups and encouraged supporters to donate by adding an extra push-up for every donation. On the final day of the challenge Joe completed over 100 push-ups, a personal best.