A YOUNG woman hopes an epic cycle ride will raise vital funds to build a school in Kenya, giving young people a better start in life.

Olivia Parson, formerly of King's School in Worcester, and friend Ellie Bailey plan to cycle 1,600 miles from Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, to Los Angeles in California in the United States in just 32 days.

The charity mission, set to begin on July 14, will raise vital funds for Educate Enkerende, a charity she co-founded, which aims to raise funds to build a new school in Kenya.

Miss Parson who lives in Reading but hails originally from Wichenford, near Martley, founded the charity together with friend Amie Stilliard, also a former student at King’s. Both were in Creighton House and became involved in sending supplies out to children in the village, sparking a longstanding interest in the futures of the village's children and a shared desire to give them a head start in life.

Miss Parson and Miss Bailey hope the journey will involve around 60 miles a day with the pair either camping or staying in motels or hostels.

Miss Parson, aged 23, has already started training in earnest for the gruelling ride but is under no illusions about the scale of the challenge ahead.

Miss Parson said: “I think there’s mixed emotions. I go through days of being daunted and days of being incredibly excited.”

Before she began training she had not been on a bike for five years but hopes Worcester News readers will support their fundraising efforts.

They hope to raise at least £5,000 from the cycle ride, adding to the £6,500 already raised.

This should give the charity enough money to start building the school which would contain three classrooms. When more funds come in they should be able to pay for extra facilities including toilets and showers.

Miss Parson has already been out to the small rural village during her gap year in 2012 to teach English and maths to children between the ages of five and 13 years.

The charity’s co-founder, Amie Stilliard, travelled out there two years later to do the same thing.

The charity was founded in August 2016. Lessons currently take place in an old church building but it is no longer fit for purpose, especially as the size of the class has doubled. At present around 140 children have to take turns to be taught there.

They have an important contact, an English couple in a safari lodge, who have helped show visitors around the school and encouraged fundraising.

Miss Parson said the school would help prevent young people being left behind. “If a child gets left behind when they’re young, they’re constantly catching up and might not ever get to” she said.

The school may only take around six to eight weeks to build and could be finished as soon as December if enough people support them.

Enkerende School was first initiated and funded by the hard work of Robert and Eunice, who designed and built Ngerende Island Lodge in the area and felt there was need in the community for a local primary school.

A completely new, bigger school building is now required, and this is where Educate Enkerende hopes to help.

Once the building is completed, the central focus will be to sustain funding in order to maintain the infrastructure, pay salaries for the teachers, buy books and other important items thereby continuing the good quality of education offered.

For more information visit secure.thebiggive.org.uk/charity/view/65461/educate-enkerende.

At the bottom of the page is a project 'All the gears no ideas' which is where people can donate specifically towards the fundraiser.

The facebook link to the cycling page is www.facebook.com/All-The-Gears-No-Ideas-605590049645154/

The facebook for the charity is www.facebook.com/educateenkerende1/