A PENRHYNCOCH father and daughter will join a cycling challenge through France to help raise money for the Help for Heroes charity.

Neil Davies and his daughter Jessica, a former Penglais School pupil, have signed up for the Big Battlefield Bike Ride that will travel around 300 miles through France into Belgium and are aiming to raise £6,000.

The event will start from the Glade of the Armistice in France on 11 June with fundraisers travelling through the Somme battlefields and onto Saint Symphorien Military Cemetery in Belgium with a special finishing ceremony on 16 June.

Jessica, a model and TV star who now lives in Cardiff, said she persuaded Neil, who served in the RAF, to take part with her as she wanted to raise vital funds for Help for Heroes after working with the charity on a number of fundraising events.

She said: “I haven’t ridden a bike since I was about 13-years old, but after visiting a Help for Heroes recovery centre in January I decided to sign up to the challenge.

“My dad, Neil Davies, is an RAF veteran and understands first hand the effect exposure to trauma can have on veterans.

“He now works for a Help for Heroes funded peer mentoring project, so I have managed to persuade him to take part with me, although he is an avid cyclist so I’m sure he will have no problem with the ride.

“Our fundraising target is £6,000. With the weather being a bit crummy lately our training has consisted of a lot of spin classes, but once the weather hopefully pics up we will be out on the roads and local trails getting some time in the saddle.”

Jessica, who is now based in Cardiff but regularly travels back to Aberystwyth and Penrhyncoch, said she had been involved in a range of fundraising events with Help for Heroes and said that had led to her visiting a range of centres that help veterans.

She said: “I have done a lot of fundraising projects and visits with Help for Heroes through the Hot Shots Calendar Project which I was involved in for two years.”

Jessica and Neil have a fundraising page where anyone who would like to donate can do so at www.justgiving.com/Jessicaandneildavies