A police officer has vowed to run from Norfolk Constabulary headquarters to the Suffolk HQ to raise money for premature babies after his son was born five weeks early.

PC Stu Barnard, a response officer based at Wymondham, will be running the 44 miles on May 7 as part of a series of challenges aimed at raising money for the Sparks charity.

The Norfolk to Suffolk police HQ run will be sandwiched between the London Marathon on April 22 and the Edinburgh Marathon on May 27.

PC Barnard, who lives in Hethersett with his wife Katie, 32, and 10-month-old son Charlie, said he came up with the idea for the ambitious series of challenges after his own experience – and that of other people – who had premature babies at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

He said: 'After Charlie was born we spent a week at hospital afterwards because he was premature. It was during this week that we met other parents who had premature babies who had babies in the critical care unit of the NNUH and it was a bit of an eye opener.

'I saw something in the paper about Sparks, a charity for premature babies, and wanted to do something for them.'

PC Barnard, who has been a policeman for 10 years, has run four marathons to date, but has never attempted the Norfolk to Suffolk run. He said: 'It's about challenging myself really.'

To sponsor PC Barnard go to www.justgiving.co.uk/stu-barnard

Are you doing something for charity? Contact Peter Walsh on 01603 772439 or email peter.walsh@archant.co.uk