A former Lord Mayor of Polperro has set himself two ambitious swimming and endurance challenges in order to raise funds for refugees displaced by the years of conflict in Syria.

James Overton – who held the honorary mayor title in his home village in 2017-18 – has been fundraising for the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees (UNCR) for around two years. James was drawn to the cause after he visited the area around Turkey’s border with Syria; he saw the refugee camps full of displaced people and their plight struck a chord with him.

For three years James has worked as a first responder but is currently working towards higher qualifications in the emergency services in the Plymouth area.

He recently undertook a challenge running and swimming the length of the River Fowey from its source on Bodmin Moor to the mouth of its estuary near Fowey, but now he has set his sights higher.

The first of his latest challenges, due to take place in December, will involve running and swimming the whole course of the River Severn from its source on Pumlimon mountain, in Mid Wales, right down to the village of Sharpness, south of Gloucester, where the river flows into its estuary.

Some Welsh runners based in Snowdonia will accompany him for the first part of the route, then he intends to swim on his own down as far as Shrewsbury, where another group of swimmers will hopefully accompany him for a short stage, and he will maybe meet up with other swimmers in various towns along the way.

If that were not an ambitious enough challenge, James has also set himself the goal of being only the second or third person to swim from Cornwall to the Isles of Scilly in August or September 2021. He had initially planned to undertake that challenge this year, but of course the Covid-19 crisis lead to its postponement.

He is also aware that many people in his home village of Polperro are right behind him in his challenges.

Anyone wanting to support James with his challenges and fundraising to help refugees can do so via his JustGiving page at https://justgiving.com/fundraising/celticswimmer