A RIBBLE Valley community stalwart is to cycle 300 miles through the battlefields of the First World War to raise money for charity.

Bill Honeywell, 61, is aiming to raise as much money as he can for ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, which gives lifetime support to serving and retired soldiers and their families.

Bill, who is the president of Clitheroe Rotary Club, will start the challenge on August 4 alongside more than 100 other participants and will head to Niewpoort in Belgium from London.

He will cycle along the old Western Front, going through Menin Gate in Ypres and through battlefields including Passchendaele, ‘Plug Street’ and Vimy Ridge.

The group will also pass by the Thiepval Monument and cross the Somme before arriving in Compiegne near Paris on August 9, where the Armistice was signed in November 1918.

Dad-of-two Bill, who lives in Southfield Drive, West Bradford, is also planning to abseil down Blackpool’s Big One in June for a second year to raise money for the charity.

He was recently awarded a British Empire Medal for his charity fundraising efforts.

Bill said: “It’s very important to pay your respects to those who lost their lives during the First World War and this is my way of doing that.

“I will be cycling 75 miles a day which is something that I have done a few times before.

“While I have no family connection that I know from the war, my wife Valerie’s nephew is Sergeant Rick Clement who was injured serving in Afghanistan.

“I can’t believe what the guys during the First World War had to go through and sacrifice so I hope that I raise a lot of money for such a good cause.”

For details or to sponsor Bill visit www.justgiving.com/ bill-honeywell1 or www.just giving.com/bill-honeywell3