Wilf Sergeant will tackle the Dartmoor challenge to raise cash for injured soldiers

A seven-year-old boy will walk across Dartmoor to raise cash to support soldiers in his father’s regiment.

Wilf Sergeant will tackle seven tors and another seven rocky peaks in his challenge next month.

Cash will go to help members and families of the Grenadier Guards, many of whom have been killed or injured during the conflict in Afghanistan.

Wilf’s father Chris Sergeant is company commander of 2 Company, 1st Battalion the Grenadier Guards.

Many of the troops have been injured by roadside bombs and gunfire.

Wilf said: “I would like to raise some money to help these men and aim to hike across Dartmoor from Buckland in the Moor to Hound Tor.

“I will climb seven tors and seven rocks or stones on the route and I suspect it will take me all day as I am only seven.”

Money raised by the schoolboy will go to the Colonel’s Fund.

A spokesperson for the charity said: “The Grenadier Guards have been on three operational tours in the last three years and during the last tour in Afghanistan, the Regiment suffered five fatalities and 32 injured, as well as an indeterminate number of psychiatric injuries, some of which may take over a decade to appear.

“We can confidently predict that there will be a marked increase in the number of welfare cases over the medium to long term and that we will be unable to resource them properly from our existing charitable funds, which are already fully committed.

“The next 10 years promise to make extraordinary demands on the regiment, serving Grenadiers and their families and particularly those members of the regiment who have left through disability or work-related illness.

“The Colonel’s Fund Grenadier Guards is designed to support, alleviate and improve the prospects of all those Grenadiers subsequently in need.

“It will enable the regiment to support the families of those killed in action by promptly responding to problems of bereavement and hardship; support those wounded or injured on operations, particularly those who have had to leave the Army; to assist in finding them new employment and to help them become active family and community members; support the families of those seriously wounded or injured in prolonged recovery situations.”

Wilf will tackle his challenge on 2 August and has set himself a target of raising £1,000.

Donations can be made through his online charity page.