TRUST will be important in a group’s charity challenge as four couples prepare to ride 100 miles along the Devon coast on tandem bikes.

The group of eight friends will be completing the epic tandem ride from Ilfracombe to Plymouth later this month in a bid to raise £1,000 for charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Yet despite the two-day challenge not taking place until June 15 and 16, the team have already raised almost £900 and could smash their target before setting off.

Fairford dentist Mark Milnthorpe and his wife Sue organised the event after Sue was diagnosed with breast cancer last year.

“Mark and I have always wanted a tandem,” said Sue. “When I had cancer last year doctors said I should do lots of exercise to help with the side effects of radiotherapy. So we got a tandem and decided to do a bike ride.”

The Milnthorpe couple will be joined by John and Vivienne Bestwick and Jasvinder and Samantha Jugdev from Lechlade, as well as William and Anne Gardiner from Cirencester.

Each couple will be sticking together when it comes to cycling on the tandems as Sue explained that riding on such a bike, especially over a considerable distance, requires a great deal of trust.

“We will probably end up with a tandem club now,” she said. “This is the beginning of new things.”

Breakthrough Breast Cancer is a charity dedicated to the prevention, treatment, and eradication of breast cancer.

Vivienne Bestwick is also raising money for Help Madina, a charity improving the health and well being of the people living in the Madina district of Sierra Leone.

Visit justgiving/suemilnthorpe to support Breakthrough Breast Cancer or helpmadina.org.uk