SUPPORTERS of a youth club that has lost council cash are to cycle from Paris to Oxford and swim the length of the English Channel to try to keep it open.

Wolvercote Youth Club lost its funding under Oxfordshire County Council cuts and people in the village are trying to raise £80,000 to keep youth work locally.

Martin Walder, 28, and Chris Pearce, 37, will set off from Paris on Sunday, July 17, cycling 180 miles non-stop to Calais before catching the Eurostar under the Channel and resuming the journey at Folkstone.

And youngsters who go to the St Peter’s Road, Upper Wolvercote, club will swim the length of the Channel at an Oxford pool later this summer.

Mr Walder, 28, a former Royal Logistic Corps physical training instructor from Yarnton, said: “We will be cycling non-stop, and we think it will take between 35 and 40 hours to do the 310-mile journey.

“The few miles after the Channel Tunnel will be the real killer.”

He hopes the challenge will raise more than £2,000.

“They need the money to keep the club open, and it is needed in the area. It keeps kids off the streets,” he said.

The pair cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats for Barnado’s and Scope last year, but Mr Walder said this year’s feat, sponsored by employer Parcelforce, will be an even bigger one.

Youth worker Afzal Gill, whose job will disappear when the youth club cash ends in August, said the community was pulling together to keep the centre open.

The club’s trustees have applied for cash from the county council’s “Big Society” fund, while families have been asked to give £100 a year for three years towards running costs.

Now they are approaching Wolvercote and North Oxford businesses to help.

Mr Gill said: “We are doing quite well, and asking that even if people cannot give a large amount, they may be able to sponsor the bike ride.

“The young people have been doing things to raise money, and we are planning an open day soon where they can raise more. The club is really important to the community and none of us want to lose it.”

To help their efforts, contact Mr Gill at the St Peters’ Road centre on 01865 559 374.