A RIBBLE Valley student will be swapping sums for the saddle when he cycles almost 1,000 miles to raise money for charity.

Andrew Heesom, from Grindleton near Clitheroe, and a team of nine other students are trying to raise £40,000 for Cancer Research UK by cycling from London to Monte Carlo in May.

Andrew is taking on the challenge in memory of his grandfather who died from cancer when he was young.

He said that all of the team members had been directly or indirectly affected by cancer.

Andrew is a business and financial economics student at Leeds University but is on a placement year at IBM in London.

The group is now looking for companies to sponsor the cycle and to get as many donations as possible.

They have already received support for their specialised bikes and ferry crossing to Calais but still need companies to sponsor their jersies.

It is not the first time Andrew has taken on such a huge cycling challenge.

He also peddled from Leeds to Paris during his second year at university and said that experience would be invaluable on this journey.

He said he was nervous but very excited about pushing himself to his mental and physical limit.

Andrew said: “Cycling close to 1,000 miles is something that none of us has ever attempted before, but having as much support as possible would make a huge difference.

“We are in training at the moment and we are all determined to do it and it will be a fantastic achievement when we get to the end.

“The charity is extremely close to all of our hearts and we want to raise as much money and awareness as possible.”

For more information on the challenge and how to donate, visit www.ldn2mc.co.uk