SEVEN women are preparing to cycle the length of a marathon to help a pupil take part in after-school activities.

Volunteers at Mum’s the Word, the school uniform recycling project, will aim to ride to Blackpool later this month, after receiving a request for help from a Blackburn primary school for sports-related equipment.

Caroline Fotios, co-founder of the Shadsworth-based scheme, said: “We got a request from a school for four spec-ific items which would help a pupil take part in an after-school club.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t something we could provide, but the cost of the kit was about £100, so we all decided to try and raise the money instead. It’s not a great deal of money, but for some people it is.

“I’m a keen cyclist myself and we’d talked about a bike ride with our volunteers bef-ore, so we decided to go for it.

“Some of the girls haven’t been on a bike for 20 years, so it’s going to be a big achievement to ride 26 miles.”

She said the school requested that the pupil not be identified.

Mum’s the Word, which currently has stalls at the Accrington and Darwen Markets, was set up by Caroline and her best friend Rachel Rhodes in 2011, to combat the high cost of sch-ool uniforms, and the am-ount of textiles that end up in landfill.

Its volunteers were recently given a ‘Pat on the Back’ award by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, and the non-profit company is also looking for a new shop in Blackburn after teaming up with Haslingden textile company, Clarke and Clarke, which supplies don-ations of fabric to help repair old uniforms, and clothes.

For further information, or to donate to the cause, please visit: http://mumstheword.org.uk/