Five staff at West Hatch High School, Chigwell, are preparing for a 300-mile sponsored cycle ride to raise money for a Camps International school trip to Borneo next year.

Head of House Steve Windsor, who came up with the idea of the ‘West Hatch to West Hatch’ bike ride - from the parish of West Hatch, near Taunton in Somerset, to the Chigwell school - said: "The plan is to raise as much money as we possibly can towards the trip that the students will be going on in the summer of 2017."

Also taking part in the cycle challenge over three-and-a-half days are Head of House Guy Blain, Assistant Headteacher Anthony Sinfield, specialist teacher Gay Shillaker and geography teacher Robyn Turtle.

Geography teacher Ellen Scott, who is project manager for the challenge, said: "The students will be doing lots of project work during the Borneo trip which will involve helping out with building new schools, helping women in their community to provide for their community and planting trees for the rain forest.

"They will also be going to the orangutan sanctuary and at the end of the trip they do a jungle trek."

Thirty-three students, who each need to raise some £4,000, are set to take part in the adventure.

All the youngsters are holding fundraising events with bucket collections, cake sales, car washes and bag packing among the initiatives already undertaken.

Finley Walker said: "It's going to be amazing. I don't know how to put it into words.”

Seb Weller said: “It will be the experience of a lifetime. It's somewhere I've never been. I've never been out of Europe before so it will be amazing. I'm looking forward to just getting there - seeing the jungle."