A PETERSFIELD man hopes to become the youngest person to travel around the world by motorcycle, on the way raising money and awareness for men’s mental health.

Henry Crew (22) of The Causeway will be raising money for the Movember Foundation, a men’s charity that helps with prostate cancer, testicular cancer, men’s mental health and suicide prevention.

Having lost three friends to suicide, and experiencing his own mental health struggles, Henry’s goal is to raise £35,000 – £1 for every mile of his journey.

Speaking before he set off on Tuesday, April 4, he said: “I have ridden almost every day for the past five years, and I love a challenge.

“This journey seems like a great way to combine those two things. "Motorcycles really helped me and my mental health so it all tied in.”

Henry has until May 2019 to get back to the UK to claim the world record.

His mother Allyson is headteacher at Petersfield Infant School and she said: “He brought his motorbike into school to show the children and told them about the countries he’ll be visiting – and they suggested he take a cuddly toy for night times.

"Henry is dyslexic and organisation hasn’t always been his strong point, so to organise this is an amazing thing for him to have done.”

On his world tour Henry, whose father Simon works for Petersfield builders Agincourt Contractors, will be visiting 35 countries in six continents.

Allyson added: “He spent his first night in France, setting up camp in torrential rain. He aims to travel through Switzerland to northern Italy, where he will tour the Ducati motorbike factory.”

From there, the former pupil at The Petersfield School will head into Russia, then onto Central Asia, South East Asia and finally Australia.

The freelance video content editor will then fly to Chile and motorbike through South, Central and North America, before flying to Morocco, and riding through Spain, France and back to the UK.

Henry, who passed his motorcycle test in 2013, said: “I have been planning this for eight months and can’t think of a better partner for this trip than Movember.

“Movember campaigns for causes which are close to my heart, specifically mental health.

“I have had my own struggles with mental health, particularly during my time at university, and have also experienced a scary amount of mental health issues within my friendship group.

He added that every now and then he still endured days when he woke up feeling absolutely terrible for no reason at all.

While on his travels he’ll be meeting up with a few people, but for most of the journey he will travel alone.

Global innovation lead for the Movember Foundation Ben Bowers said: “He is such a lovely young man going on an amazing adventure. He’s been through some tough times personally and is doing this for a really positive reason.

“Because of what he’s been through, the challenge will be even harder for him because he gets anxious and depressed in stressful situations.

“Good on him for putting himself out there.”For more information about Henry's trip and to donate visit the website at: www.35000miles.com