FERN Britton's name is synonymous with daytime TV but she is never happier than when the cameras stop rolling and she can be 'just Mrs Vickery again'.

Eleven years ago in a bid to find a bit of space and time for herself, Fern, who is married to celebrity chef Phil Vickery, responded to a challenge to cycle The Nile in Egypt to raise money for charity. Last week she completed her eleventh and toughest cycle challenge yet, raising in the region of £100,000.

Through cycling, this former BBC newsreader and former presenter of ITV's 'This Morning' show, has not only found some time and space but a whole new set of friends with a shared determination to help the cause.

Each year Fern and a group of ladies, mostly of a certain age, meet up to cycle miles and miles for the Genesis Research Trust, to help find the reasons why women miscarry in pregnancy. This time it was 1,100 miles from John O' Groats to Land's End.

'It's not an addiction but I am committed to doing it,' said Fern. 'We have been to Cuba, Tanzania, China — we have travelled the world and it's great fun. It's like doing the youth backpacking thing in your middle age

'We all get on so well and when we get together we revert to being teenagers again. We share life experience and stories and trust each other 100 percent. We have all become good mates — even though we might only see each other once a year, something magical happens when we all get together again.

'Raising money for the Genesis Research Trust is very rewarding. Losing a baby is very hard both for the mum- to-be, father-to-be and all family members. No-one has really cracked why miscarriage happens so that is what this money is going towards.

'I have not had a miscarriage but my twin boys were IVF and it took four gos before I got them. For many women on the challenge it is very personal because many have had to fight to get their families and some have not been able to have children. We are doing this to help the next generation and the research is not just for the UK, it will be spread across the world.'

Last year Fern had an idea that she put to the Genesis Research Trust about cycling from John O'Groats to Land's End and within two days it was organised.

'I was born in 1957 and I was 57 last year so my aim this year was to cycle 57 miles a day from the top of the UK to the bottom,' said Fern.

'It's been like four of our usual cycle challenges in one so it's been hard but nothing really prepared us for the hills plus the wind, rain and hailstones that we encountered riding from Cullompton to Tavistock over Dartmoor.'

Fern and 24 fellow cyclists arrived at the Bedford Hotel in Tavistock last Tuesday after completing the Dartmoor leg, for a well deserved rest before heading out on the penultimate leg from Tavistock to Newquay. The ladies made it to their destination of Land's End last Thursday.

The route is 'off the beaten track' taking in many back roads. Fern said: 'One man on Dartmoor said to me he had not seen so many people for ten years so I guess this must have been a very unused road.

'Dartmoor was the hardest leg and probably one of the toughest we have ever done anywhere,' she added. 'We have had windy conditions before and certainly at Shap Summit in the Lake District we had to stop because we had 60mph winds and were being blown off our bikes but Dartmoor was tough in lots of ways.

'When it comes to cycling I think the wind and the humidity are the worst to cope with but we are all very determined to succeed. We have that in common and it draws us together. It is an amazing team.

Fern was presenter of ITV's 'This Morning' for ten years, most of those with Philip Scofield as co-host, but she left five years ago. Her husband Phil Vickery is still a resident chef on the programme.

'I could have stayed there and clogged it up or left when the time was right and it was,' she said. 'I had a very happy ten years but things moved on and it just so happens I have just had one of the most fulfilling years for a long time.'

Fern, who lived in St Dominick for five years while she worked for the BBC in Plymouth, has this year presented a series of The Big Allotment Challenge for BBC2, was involved in another series for Channel Four and her latest novel reached number five in the Sunday Times bestsellers' list.

'This year has been like "wow" and I am appreciating it very much,' said Fern. 'It is nice to have a professional life but I very much like to be just Mrs Vickery and that's who I am when I am cycling.

'The first time I asked for ten days off to go cycling they sent a film crew but not now. I can just be me. I wear no make-up and I look terrible but I don't care.

'I would say to anyone who is thinking about doing a cycle challenge to go for it. I am not an elite cyclist and the bike I have is quite old and quite heavy. Slowly build it up, five miles then ten miles, take in a few hills and then suddenly you can do it.

'Anyone can do it, if they really want to — and it's great for the hips, bums and stomach!'