A MAN is set to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day by walking 270km across France.

Jay Campbell, from Bournemouth, will walk from Cherbourg to Pegasus Bridge to raise money for WithYou, a drug and alcohol support charity.

The challenge will begin on Sunday, June 2, and will take around six days to complete, taking Jay through key Operation Overlord landmarks.

This includes Utah, Omaha and Juno landing beaches, with Jay walking unaided, carrying all his equipment on his person.

The recovery worker in WithYou’s drug and alcohol homeless outreach team in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is also completing the challenge in honour of his family’s military history.

“I was raised in a military family,” Jay said.

“One of my grandads was in the RAF and my great-uncle, who was also in the RAF, lost his life during World War Two.

“My other grandad was in the Army and my dad was in the Royal Navy - they both struggled with their mental health after leaving the forces, ended up homeless, and lost their lives too soon following challenges with drugs and alcohol.”

Jay said his dad’s drug, alcohol and mental health challenges profoundly impacted his whole family, especially for his mum.

“There was a lot of loss and grief for her, and because we moved around a lot with my dad’s job, she didn’t have a real support network,” he said.

“This led to her own challenges with drugs and alcohol, and I also started drinking alcohol at a dangerous level as a teenager.

“But in many ways, I was really lucky. I ended up inside the criminal justice system at the age of 16, and I was given a lot of support to address my traumas. Because of this, I was able to turn my life around, but sadly, my grandad, dad and mum didn’t get this same chance.

“As well as paying tribute to those who fought and died during the D-day landings, for me, completing this challenge is my way of remembering my dad, mum and grandad, and raising awareness of the support services that saved me and that could have saved them too.”

He added: “I’ve spent a lot of my career working with serving personnel and veterans, and I hear all too often that they feel shame, embarrassment and guilt at accessing support services.

“At WithYou, we want to break down these barriers so that members of the armed forces community can access the drug and alcohol support that they need.

“We want to spread the message that there is no reason to be ashamed.”

To donate to Jay’s fundraiser, search Jason Campbell on JustGiving.