A Welsh journalist has smashed his fundraising target after completing the first half of a double charity challenge.

Jem King, 51, assistant head of sport at Media Wales, which publishes titles including the Western Mail  raised, raised  £1,000 for the Alzheimer’s Society by walking 26 miles from Stonehenge to Avebury.

Said Jem: “It took me a week to recover and I have still got bruised toes. It’s amazing that people run that far and they think nothing of it.

“It was a long day and there were a lot of experiences hikers and a few people like myself. A lot of people suffered but we helped each other along.

“As soon as you finish you think never again and a few weeks later you think ‘I’ll give it another go.”

He added that he had raised a lot more than he had expected to as his initial figure was £300.

The second part of his challenge will see him fly to Asia in the new year to take part in Cycle India 2012, a 350km bike ride raising money for the UK-based children’s charity HEAL.

This will be the second time he has done the Cycle India event, which is held every two years. He previously raised £2,500 and has been training every day for the upcoming trek.

Added Jem: “I’ve got myself a nice new bike as part of the cycle to work scheme. I need to get out there and do as much training as possible.

“I learnt my lesson last time that I need to get some serious training done.”

All the money raised from Cycle India will go directly into the cost of creating and developing a ‘Paradise Village’, which aims to take another 1,000 severely disadvantaged children under its wing.

Land has already been purchased, and potential sponsors are being encouraged to ‘buy’ a schoolroom to pay for the ambitious project.

Jem has fundraising pages online at justgiving.com/Jem-King (for the Alzheimer’ Society) and justgiving.com/Jem-King2012 (for HEAL).