FORMER Royal Marine Adam Bentley, who set up a gym in Devizes after leaving the military, is to use his fitness to raise money for two charities that mean something special to him.

Mr Bentley, 26, who runs Bentley's Fitness on the Hopton Industrial Estate, has organised a million metre indoor 24 hour rowing marathon which starts on February 10.

He said: "We are holding a fundraiser for two very worthy charities. The first is Julia’s House children's hospice in Devizes. I truly believe what they do and offer, massively changes many lives for the better in our small home town and surrounding areas, making Devizes a happier place to live and be a part of.

"The second one is The Royal Marines Charity. Being a former Royal Marine myself, this is very close to my heart and admire the work they do for, past and present marines and families all around the country."

A team of 12 intrepid rowers will start the mammoth challenge at 5pm and hope to have completed the distance by 5pm the next day. He said: "We will be attempting this huge task with just a small team of 12 brave volunteers and four rowers in the gym at any one time. We are hoping to finish the task in around 21 hours, all being well and going as smooth as possible with no set backs."

While the rowers are still hopefully going strong at 10am on February 11 the gym will hold a raffle. Mr Bentley said: "We will have been rowing for 17 hours at this point.

"We are hoping to attract a large crowd to attend the raffle to inject a lot of life and cheer, to get the rowers over the finish line in their last desperate zombie-like states.

"The gym will be open to all visitors over the whole period, even the scary early hours of the morning, that the event is running, for people to come in and cheer on, donate or simply share a few words of encouragement to the team. We will also have donation buckets out in the gym for both charities also."