People who have suffered from mental health issues will support staff at a Lowestoft charity in a marathon cycle ride from Lowestoft to a French town.

Members of staff from Access Community Trust are cycling to Plaisir in France over a 10-day period from Wednesday, July 18.

Service users at the social inclusion charity will support the staff in the journey which they hope will raise at least £5,000.

The trip is to link people who work with Access Community Trust with those who lost their lives during the two world wars.

The fundraising cycle is to help the charity's pledge to maintain access to any war graves in East Suffolk with the support and co-operation of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The participants in the cycle will come from a Building Better Opportunities programme funded by the Big Lottery and European Social Fund called Minding the Gap.

Beth Stephens, wellbeing caseworker from Minding the Gap, said: 'Six months ago these young people weren't leaving their houses due to mental ill health which in turn had impacted their self-confidence and left them with little positivity about the future.

'The Minding the Gap programme has worked intensively with each individual to understand their needs, listen to their fears and support them to believe in themselves and help them to understand and manage their own emotional wellbeing.

'This trip will be another huge challenge that they are keen to overcome, as well as giving them the opportunity to connect with different cultures and pay their respects to those that lost their lives in the war.'

During the trip, the young individuals will put their pre-planned navigational skills to the test and will also create a daily blog in which captures their memorable moments throughout.

A spokesman for Access Community Trust said: 'This is an incredibly rare opportunity, and all individuals are looking forward to being involved in such a humbling experience.

'In order to make this possible, the charitable organisation is looking to raise a minimum of £5,000.

'This will enable the team to cover the costs to make this culturally beneficial opportunity a reality.'

If you want to donate to the cycle, you can do so by going to https://www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/lowestoft2plaisirfundraiser