THE father of murdered schoolgirl Holly Wells is set to mark the 10-year anniversary of her death by raising thousands of pounds for charity.

Kevin Wells said he wanted to do something “positive” to commemorate a decade since 10-year-old Holly and her friend Jessica Chapman were murdered by Ian Huntley at his Soham home.

Along with his close friend, Robert Wright, Kevin has signed up to take part in this year’s London Marathon, being held on April 22.

The duo are hoping to raise more than �10,000 for Grief Encounter, a charity set up in 2004 to help children through bereavement.

Kevin, 48, has been a patron of the charity since 2004 and said that its support had given him the “permission to grieve for Holly for the rest of my life.”

Speaking to the Ely Standard from Holly House, the family’s home in Soham this week, Kevin said: “It is coming up to the 10-year anniversary since we lost Holly so we decided to do something to mark the occasion in a positive manner.

“We hadn’t set out to mark the 10 years initially but I think it happened to be a really nice coincidence that we decided to enter the marathon and then realised that we could do the fundraising for the charity. It will be a special occasion.

“The training has been difficult but I will finish the marathon even if I have to walk or limp across the line. I just hope that I won’t have to cope with being overtaken by people in costumes!”

Kevin said that his wife Nicola, although not running, thought that it was a wonderful cause and a good way to mark the 10 year anniversary.

“She is fed up of all the moans, injuries and niggles though,” he added.

Kevin said that his training has been beset by injury problems over the past few months but said that he had drawn on the experience of relative and experienced runner Ali Msabaha to help him through.

You can donate to Kevin and Robert’s fundraising campaigns’ online at www.justgiving.com/kevin-wells and www.justgiving.com/rob-wright1