TWO Axe Valley men will be taking part in a 30 mile trek to raise money for a local school and two charities.

Paddy Magrane, from Shute, and Tony Booth, from Axminster, are walking the Axe River from Dorset to East Devon in aid of Shute Primary School.

The pair, who have children at the school, will also raise money for their own chosen charities.

Tony, 43, said: “Smaller community schools are under enormous pressure and many are losing funding through government funding changes.

“Community schools rely heavily on external fund-raising, hence we feel Shute Community Primary is a very worthy cause.

“Also Devon receives significantly lower funding than most other counties.”

The pair have a target of �1,000 to raise from the walk, on October 9.

As he has had two family members affected by mental illness, he is also raising money for Rethink, a leading national mental health charity.

Paddy, 41, has a separate web page for Farm Africa, which works directly with rural communities in eastern Africa, building their skills and knowledge and enabling them to lift themselves out of poverty.

He said: “I’ve been lucky to work with the charity briefly, visiting some of the people they’ve helped in Ethiopia.

“These are families who’ve been hit, year on year, with appalling droughts and often live on small plots of land that are very poor quality.”

For more information and to sponsor the pair, visit http://www.walkingtheriveraxe.co.uk/