SOLDIERS from Abingdon got on their bikes to tackle a charity challenge at the weekend.

More than 60 men and women from 3 Logistic Support Regiment, based at Dalton Barracks, set out to cycle the distance between the Westgate Centre in Oxford and Land’s End in Cornwall – on exercise bikes – to raise money for Oxford’s Helen and Douglas House hospice.

The event was organised by Sgt Martell Jordan.

When the team totted up the miles completed at the end of their nine-hour effort at the shopping centre on Saturday, they had more than doubled their target, riding a total of 715 miles.

Ruth Harrison, community fundraising manager for Helen and Douglas House, which provides care for children and young adults, said: “As soon as they got on their bikes they became really competitive.

“Each person had a 40-minute slot and they began to compete to see who could cover the longest distance within that time.”

The soldiers hope to have raised more than £2,000 – enough to pay for a child and their family to stay at Helen House for a weekend.