A GROUP of Kendal friends are preparing to cycle from London back to their home town, 10 years on from doing the same in memory of their late friend.

In October 2008, former Queen Katherine School pupil Daniel Johnson died from leukaemia after taking a turn for the worse following a battle with lymphoma.

"His death came about very quickly," recalled his friend Kris Clough. "It was a massive shock, so we all decided to spend as much time as possible with him."

The following year, having already completed a charity football match in honour of Dan, 13 of his closest friends cycled from London to Kendal over five days to help raise more funds for good causes.

In the years since, Dan's death has been marked with annual fundraisers for charities chosen by his parents. So far, the group has raised more than £32,000 for different charities.

For the ten-year anniversary, that same group of friends are again cycling to Kendal from the capital – raising money for Bloodwise – only this time it will be over three days.

"We want to keep doing it to carry on remembering him," said one of those taking part, Daniel Ferguson.

"None of us were cyclists then and we're still not now, but with it being 10 years we wanted to do something big.

"When you look back it is quite a shock to see how much we've raised."

Mr Clough added: "As a group, we've got a lot friends who know what we do, how hard we work for it, and how much we miss Dan. They always support us as much as they can."

Their journey starts on September 12 and they hope to arrive back in Kendal on the afternoon of Friday, September 14. Tickets for a celebration at Carus Green Golf Club, Kendal, upon their return have already sold out.

To donate to the fundraiser, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cycle4dj, and follow their progress on Twitter @cycle_4