AN IT engineer will tackle the Longest Day Golf Challenge in memory of his namesake cousin, who died of cancer.

Peter Hedges will be playing 72 holes – four rounds of golf – while raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The 57-year-old said: “My cousin Peter Hedges – yes, he had the same name as me –sadly died of cancer but during his last days with us, the team from Macmillan were amazing.

“Nurses at home to look at him and one nurse stayed every night to make he was fine and let his wife rest.

“My cousin was an amazing man, gentle with a heart a gold. He was 64 when he died in 2015, which was terrible news. He was quite central to our family.

“So we are trying to say a massive thank you to them to what they have done to help Peter. Cancer touches each and every one of us in some way so I want to help raise funds to help them continue to help them.

“This isn’t only about the challenge; it’s also raising awareness about cancer.”

Peter will take on the challenge with his stepson Alex Davis, nephew Mark Hedges and his future son-in-law Paul Brewerton.

He said: “It is approximately 27 miles, starting at first light which about 4am. It is more than four hours per round, which is over 16 hours for an amazing charity.”

For Peter, who lived in Swindon for six years before moving to Lechlade, the main challenge would be complete the 27 miles at Shrivenham Park Golf Club in less than 24 hours. They hope to finish around 9pm on June 20.

“We are so grateful that Shrivenham Park allowed us to do it free of charge," he said. “I play golf on a regular basis but I still think that walking 27 miles in one day will be hard for us. We are all golfers but at different levels and abilities.”

The group set up a JustGiving page, which has raised more than £600 – the initial target is £1,000.

Peter said: “We had a fantastic response over the last few days. Our Macmillan donation page has £135 on it and we also got £400 with our sponsor forms. We're nearly there.”

To support the team and donate visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hackersandbanditsunlimited and for more on the challenge see www.macmillan.org.uk