For some running the London Marathon is challenge enough – but not one Barkingside personal trainer, who plans to cycle the length of Ireland in five days to raise money for WaterAid.

Gabar Singh hopes to raise more than £5,000 to combat the problem of dirty water by cycling 360 miles from Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway to the southern Eire city of Cork.

A father-of-two young girls, Mr Singh was inspired when he saw a TV advert about young children who have to walk miles to collect dirty water that risks causing disease.

So far the 30-year-old, of Greystone Gardens, has raised £232, or four per cent, of his ambitious total.

But he has five months of fundraising still to go before the Ireland Coast to Coast challenge, known for its hard climbs and picturesque scenery.

Mr Singh said: “Water is life, 2.5billion people in the world do not have access to clean water and adequate sanitation. That’s one in three of the worlds population.

He added: “I feel very strongly about this as children as young as three walk miles everyday to get water from dirty lakes just to survive that day.

“I have a three and a five-year-old daughter and could never imagine them living like this but if they did, I would want others to do whatever they possibly could to help too.

“Sometimes we want so much more from life and take things we have for granted, when we should actually see how lucky we are to even have the basic necessities in life.”

He said he had set a target of £5,000, which will be donated to WaterAid, after deciding it was the bare minimum to achieve the changes he felt were necessary.

Mr Singh begins his lengthy journey later this year on September 17. To donate to the fundraising effort, visit www.justgiving.com/gabarsingh2.