TWELVE Royal Marines from HMS Bulwark have taken on the enormous challenge of cycling almost 600 miles from Tavistock to Durham — all in aid of the Help for Heroes charity.

The marines of the 4 Assault Squadron set off last Thursday from their Devonport Naval Base to Tavistock where a special send-off was staged at the Ordulph — with all the bar takings from the night donated to the charity by landlord Andy Coad.

Then on Friday morning the team, which includes Tavistock Cpl James 'Ellie' Ellis, started on their journey to the Market Square in Durham, the ship's affiliated city.

The team are carrying out this task as HMS Bulwark sails from Devonport round to Durham. It will see the marines cycle more than 550 miles in eight days.

Cpl Matthew Lane, one of the cyclists, said: 'The lads and I thought this was an ideal time to do our bit for Help For Heroes.

'We want to promote awareness of this excellent charity which is close to our hearts as we have friends and colleagues in the corps presently serving in Afghanistan, facing constant danger.'

Help For Heroes aims to help wounded service personnel and is currently supporting improvements to rehabilitation facilities at Headley Court, Surrey.

Before the team set off on Thursday they were in Plymouth City Centre collecting from members of the public.

Cpl Lane added: 'We have been astounded by the generosity of the people in town, on our first day we collected nearly £2,000! This has given us such a lift as we face the challenge ahead.'

After setting off from Tavistock on Friday the team moved onto Lympstone before arriving in Bristol for an overnight stop at the Royal Marine Reserves Unit on Saturday. Sunday saw a cycle up to Worcester before moving onto Leicester and the hospitality of the Training Ship Tiger, the local Sea Cadet Corps headquarters.

Leaving Leicester on Tuesday the team made their way to Sheffield, then York, and then tonight they will be in Redcar for their final night.

Tomorrow (Friday) the cyclists will join up with fellow members of HMS Bulwark's ship's company for the final 30 miles into Durham.

Anyone who would like to make a contribution to Help For Heroes can visit http://www.justgiving.com/">www.justgiving.com/

matthewlanerm.

The determined cyclists are pictured right.