AN adventurer swapped his home comforts for the depths of the Scottish Highlands to raise vital funds for Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention.

Ben Martin, creative director at Hale-based marketing communications company, Peppermint Soda, took on a four-day, gruelling challenge for the breast cancer charity.

With support from his fellow colleagues, friends and family, Ben has raised a total of £1000 for Genesis, which is the UK’s only charity entirely dedicated to the prediction and prevention of breast cancer.

Ben joined his friend, Ed Warnke, to take on the challenge of paddling across the Great Glan Canoe Trail, which joins the west and east coasts of Scotland. The main body of water is made up of Loch Lochy, Loch Oich, Loch Ness and Loch Douchfour, with 22 miles of the Caledonian Canal joining the lochs together.

Ben, 40, said: “Ed and I have been on many trips like this before and usually this trail takes five days to complete, so we decided to raise the bar and set ourselves the challenge of completing the trail in just three days.”

In addition to the daytime task of crossing the choppy waters in a 16ft Canadian canoe, the duo spent their evenings camping in the wild. Sourcing a safe place to sleep, building a fire from scratch and cooking dinner were all part of their post paddling activities.

Ben said: “Despite the challenge being an exhausting few days, it was all worth it in the end – we’ve raised a fantastic amount of money that will go on to help such a wonderful cause.”