A KENDAL couple are in training for an epic charity bike ride a 10,000 mile journey to South Africa.

Ellie Lightburn, 32, and her South-African husband Ian Vermeulen, 36, are planning to emigrate to Cape Town this summer but instead of a 12-hour flight, the active couple will be travelling through Europe and down the east coast of Africa on two wheels.

Head of humanities at Windermere's St Anne's School for seven years, Mrs Lightburn said she and her husband, an employee of Kendal's Low Alpine store, had set aside nine months for the trip. "We have been on a few cycle tour holidays and as I am a geography teacher I thought it would be nice to visit some of the places I teach about. This will be such an adventure and a real challenge for us, but most importantly we will be raising money for a worthy cause," she explained.

With the help of staff and pupils at St Anne's School, the couple are hoping to raise £25,000 for a nursery for disabled children in the shanty town of Huhudi. Mrs Lightburn explained she heard about the Thussang Nursery project through her work and links with the Round Square Organisation, a worldwide association of schools.

"Through the association, St Anne's has been in contact with a fellow member - a South African school in Vryburg called Tiger Kloof - which has set up this project to help provide a better quality of life for the children in the poorer areas. The money we raise will help with running and staffing costs and pay for facilities such as a sensory room," she said.

Mrs Lightburn's long locks will be getting the chop as part of the fund-raising efforts and a number of in-school activities will take place, including a charity clay pigeon shoot on Sunday, June 13.

For more information call 015394-46164 or to make a donation you can send a cheque made payable to Windermere Educational Trust Ltd to Jennie Martin at Windermere St Anne's School.