TWO friends and colleagues are cycling from London to Paris to raise funds and awareness for people affected by cancer.

Sarah Coxhill and Charlie Littlejones both work for Macmillan Cancer Support and live in Brighton.

They were inspired to sign up for the 335-mile ride after working with staff and volunteers at the Macmillan Horizon Centre in Bristol Gate, Brighton.

Neither had even sat on a road bike before agreeing to sign up for the challenge which starts tomorrow until Sunday.

Charlie, a project lead for Macmillan, said: “At the time of signing up we had no real concept of how it would feel to do that distance in the saddle.

“Since getting our road bikes and learning to ride it though, it’s a lot harder – and a lot more painful than we could have ever imagined.”

Sarah, a senior fundraising manager who also volunteers at the centre, said: “Having worked with the Horizon Centre for more than five years and seen it go from a building site to a functioning outstanding service for people affected by cancer locally, I have always felt very invested.

“But it was personally knowing so many people who use the centre which really hit home and motivated me to fundraise for the service.

“My own health challenges in recent years have made me appreciate the fact I am able to do this in the first place.

“I definitely didn’t understand the scale of what we were signing up to, especially training in the coldest winter in 50 years, but we’ve put the time in and are excited to get to Paris to eat cheese!

“The money I raise could pay for 40 days of information support to people needing guidance on services available to them at the centre. If that isn’t motivation, then I don’t know what is.”

You can sponsor them both via JustGiving.