Ex-paratrooper Chris Lewis finishes six-year walk around UK

An ex-paratrooper has completed a 19,000-mile walk around the UK coast and raised £500,000 in the process.

Chris Lewis, 43, was joined by hundreds of cheering supporters as he finished the final mile of his journey

The dad-of-two began on Llangennith beach on the Gower Peninsula on 1 August, 2017 - almost six years ago.

He set off with just £10 in his pocket and has returned with a fiancee, a baby son named Magnus and a pet dog called Jet.

Mr Lewis, partner Kate Barron, 36, Magnus and Jet finished the walk where it all began at Llangennith.

"It took longer than I ever imagined," said Mr Lewis, from Swansea, as he raised more than £500,000 for armed forces charity SSAFA.

The couple welcomed their first child, Magnus, in May last year.

He crossed the finishing line through bunting made by well-wishers from across the world, with his parents.

Before completing their final mile, the family were told they had reached their fundraising £500,000 - increased from £100,000 - and were handed a letter from the King offering his congratulations.

Sending his "warmest good wishes", he wrote: "I was touched to learn of Mr Lewis' highly commendable achievement and inspiring journey, ahead of the completion of his impressive fundraising walk."

At the finishing line, Mr Lewis said: "To say we're chuffed is an understatement.

"This walk has restored my faith in humanity and hopefully other people's too. I really am so proud and over the moon."

Ms Barron, who left a teaching job in London to join Mr Lewis on the walk, spoke of how it had changed their lives immeasurably.

"This is something that is going to take a while to sink in," she said.

"I've been walking for almost three years now and this has become a way of life for us.

"I think to wake up in a couple of days and not have that sense of mission to move forward every day on the coast is going to be so strange.

"I also feel so proud of us. We've worked so hard on this."

Sir Andrew Gregory, chief executive of SSAFA, presented Mr Lewis with champagne as he crossed the finish line.

He described how the charity had helped Mr Lewis, who served until 2004 and was a single parent to his daughter Caitlin.

"Chris, what you have achieved is remarkable," he told the veteran.

The adventure along the coast saw Mr Lewis spend the first coronavirus lockdown on an uninhabited Shetland island called Hildasay.

Famous faces including astronaut Tim Peake and Ben Fogle, who wrote the foreword to his book, Finding Hildasay, supported Mr Lewis on his journey.

Mr Lewis, who served with 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, struggled to cope after entering civilian life.

He decided to walk the UK coast after suffering anxiety and depression.

The father-of-two was facing homelessness when he set off in August 2017, wearing an ill-fitting pair of borrowed boots with limited supplies.

Three years into the task, he met Ms Barron in Scotland and she joined his walk a few months later.

The early stages of Chris's journey can be seen in the BBC programme Our Lives.

Chris started walking to get away from the "clutter" of everyday life.

He began documenting his trek with pictures and videos on Facebook, which now has more than 147,000 followers.

On 25 August 2020 he met Kate who, after meeting him twice, decided to join him.

"The most surprising moment was feeling so confident about giving up everything that I spent 10 years working for in my life to join this walk on such an impulse," she said.

The pair, and Jet, continued their mission together and in 2021 spent the second lockdown in a tent in woods.

They welcomed baby Magnus in May 2022.

"I promised myself I would come back a happy man and it's far exceeded that," said Chris.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet. Six years is a long time and I think more than anything it's become a lifestyle rather than just an adventure, if that makes sense.

"I achieved what I set out to do and that's a promise I made to myself a long time ago. Everything's a learning curve if you let it be. Just don't let it get you down, learn from it and move forward."