Father and son's bike challenge helps school

A FATHER and son who took up cycling to keep fit during lockdown have just returned from a 1,000-mile trip which took them across the Channel, through France to Santander in Spain and back.

In the process Nick and Ben Jefferies have raised more than £2,000 for the Winterbourne primary school attended by Ben's eight-year-old son, Harlee.

IT consultant Ben, 29, first came up with the idea when he watched an inspirational talk by two Atlantic rowers during lockdown.

He roped in Rolls-Royce engineer Nick, aged 59, in and the pair started cycling longer distances but put the idea on hold until earlier this year, when Ben decided to bite the bullet and put in some serious training, which Nick said he "reluctantly" joined in.

After a 220-mile round trip test run between Winterbourne and the ferry port at

Portsmouth they decided the trip was viable and set off on their 11-day journey at the end of April, returning in May.

After crossing the Channel to St Malo they cycled down the French coast before crossing into Spain, where they caught another ferry back before the final leg home.

Nick said the journey had been full of challenges, including saddle sores, a bank holiday in France where no shops were open for them to buy food at the end of a gruelling day's riding, and a final day when they climbed around 2,000m on roads through the foothills of the Pyrenees.

Elm Park Primary School is moving into a new home later this year and has launched an appeal to raise £13,000 to build an outdoor nature outdoor classroom.

Head teacher Carol Bond said: "We are working really hard to promote a love of the outdoors and designing a curriculum to promote a commitment to climate change.

"Our outdoor classroom will enable the children to experience not only learning in our amazing grounds but also to understand first-hand how nature changes over time and how, as humans, we need to look after our surroundings."

You can donate to Nick and Ben's fundraising appeal at gofund.me/e2cdb0b6