CHILDREN from a school near Tenbury will be undertaking a tough cycle challenge in aid of charity this month.

The 18 pupils from Abberley Hall School will be cycling 144 miles in one day, aiming to raise £5,000 in aid of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Starting off from the school at 4am on Sunday, June 17, the party aims to reach Manorbier in Pembrokeshire by nightfall.

Head of design manufacture and outdoor education at Abberley Hall Jordan Scott, who is leading the trip, said that each child set their own target distance, with the majority completing the full 144 miles.

“The children are 12 and 13 years old and it will be really tough - we are very proud of all of them for volunteering to take part,” he said.

A school minibus and a group of parents and staff will accompany the group of cyclists, who have all been training for several months for the trip, which ends with a beach barbeque and an overnight stay in a youth hostel.

“We make sure that the children are supported throughout the journey and have plenty of healthy food and drink to keep them going en route as it is a feat of endurance,” Jordan said.

“We are so impressed by the pupils at Abberley,” said Andy Jarrett, area fund raiser at the MS Society.

“This is a hard challenge but we’ll all be rooting for them. There are over 100,000 people with MS in the UK and fundraising efforts like this mean we can keep doing valuable work to improve services, campaign for change and invest in ground-breaking research.”

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a condition that affects the brain and spinal cord. In MS, the coating that protects nerves (myelin) is damaged, and this causes a range of symptoms.

Once diagnosed, MS stays with you for life, but treatments and specialists can help you to manage the condition and its symptoms.

The central nervous system links everything your body does, so MS can cause many different types of symptoms. The specific symptoms that appear depend on which part of your central nervous system has been affected, and the job of the damaged nerve. That’s why MS is different for everyone. People are most likely to be diagnosed with MS in their 40s and 50s.

But many people notice their first symptoms years before they get their diagnosis. MS affects almost three times as many women as men. This is the eighth year the school has undertaken the challenge, collecting a total of £30,000 so far.