IT has been a ‘mission accomplished’ for former soldier Colin Stinson, from Holsworthy, who recently presented a cheque to ABF The Soldier’s Charity.

Mr Stinson raised £2,964.50 from sponsorship’s gained for his ‘Ride Out’ challenge. The challenge saw him undertake a journey around the UK’s mainland coastline on his 1967 vintage Metisse Desert Racer motorcycle.

The motorcycle is best known for being the model that Steve McQueen famously tried to jump the barbed wire within ‘The Great Escape’.

During his journey Mr Stinson covered 4,404 miles of Britain’s coastline and he managed to complete this in 29 days.

Mr Stinson said: “This was a trip I had planned with my late father and was my way of giving back to my second family – the Army Family.

“It was an amazing experience seeing so many beautiful places along the way and meeting some lovely people as well.”

Accepting the cheque from Mr Stinson on behalf of ABF The Soldier’s Charity was Philip Hutchens, who is from the charity’s Exeter office. He said: “This has been a fantastic effort by Colin with the money raised going to help veterans, soldiers and their families. We are hugely grateful.”