AN intrepid team of 11 staff from Aspen Pumps is taking on the challenge of cycling from its headquarters in Hailsham to Paris to support a children’s charity.

Starting on June 28 and covering 130 miles in 24 hours, the group will end the journey at the headquarters of Aspen’s Paris based distributor, Salina SAS.

The team of cyclists is hoping to raise much-needed funds for the Sussex-based children’s hospice Chestnut Tree House, which has a base in nearby Eastbourne for its team of community nurses who care for children in their own homes across the county.

Joe Rose, head of group marketing at Aspen, said: “Myself and my colleagues are training hard to make sure we are ready for the challenge and cycle all the way to Salina SAS, our French office in Paris.

“We are very proud to support Chestnut Tree House, which offers support to families of local children with life-limiting conditions.

“They are a crucial lifeline for many families in the area so please support us as much as you can.”

Terrina Barnes, corporate fundraising manager at Chestnut Tree, said: We want to wish the team at Aspen Pumps the best of luck with their challenge.

“The money they raise will be vital to us in continuing to offer care to children and families in the local area and helping us to reach even more families who need our support.

“It currently costs well over £3.5m each year to provide all the care services offered by Chestnut Tree House and families are never charged for their care.

“We receive less than seven per cent of our funding from central government so rely heavily on businesses like Aspen Pumps who take on amazing challenges to fundraise for us.”

With training well underway the team is looking for as much support as possible. Donations can be made at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/AspenParis

Aspen Pumps designs, manufactures and distributes condensate removal pumps.

It bought Salina SAS, a leading French distributor of air conditioning and refrigeration ancillaries, last month.

Salina has an administrative office in Paris and an operational hub in Normandy.

Chestnut Tree House provides specialist palliative care services to 300 children and young people aged up to 19 with life-shortening conditions in East Sussex, West Sussex and South East Hampshire.

The services it offers include assessment, advice and information for children and young adults with life-shortening conditions, specialist short breaks, emergency care, step down from hospital and end of life care.

Its Community Team cares for families in their own homes and its multi-disciplinary team offers support for the entire family following diagnosis and through the whole disease process.

Chestnut Tree House also offers bereavement support which includes therapy, counselling and spiritual care.

It offers care for families after the unexpected death of a child or young person.