A SONGWRITER will bring the lyrics of a famous hit to life as he walks 500 miles for a worthy cause.

Kevin Perisi set off from Portsmouth on Saturday to start a gruelling month-long journey to Scotland, where he will meet a two-year-old suffering from leukaemia.

The Cassington resident, who has been inspired by The Proclaimer’s song I’m Gonna Be (500 miles), is raising money to support a selection of charities associated with the fight against cancer.

Last month he released a charity single, Beautiful Boy, with Risinghurst singer Ellie Armetta, 16, to help raise awareness of cancer and its impact on sufferers.

The song, which the pair hope can break into the main charts, was dedicated to Kai Laidlaw, from Scotland, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when he was six months old.

Mr Perisi, who was inspired to start fundraising after hearing about Kai from a friend, said: “We’ve created the song but now I want to push our fundraising on to the next level.

“We’ve managed to get the song up to number one in iTunes’s easy listening chart several times, but you keep ramming the song down people’s throat so I wanted to do something different.

“I enjoy listening to the Proclaimers as well and it’s been my real inspiration for this challenge.”

After setting off from the south coast, Mr Perisi will trek towards Edinburgh, collecting money during his journey. He will then go west to Kai’s home in Glasgow.

The 50-year-old hopes to walk about 20 miles a day, with the aim of finishing within a month.

He said: “I have never met Kai before or his parents but I’ve talked to them on Facebook, so it’s going to be very emotional when I get there.

“And I do believe in my heart of hearts that the song will be number one at Christmas. At that time of year it is all about the kids, and here we’ve got the chance to do something brilliant to help people like Kai.

“What we want is for the whole country to get behind us.”

So far he has raised about £6,000 through iTunes sales and collecting in charity buckets. To donate and listen to the song go to facebook.com/beautifulboyappeal.