A group of 20-somethings have cycled from Bushy Park to Geneva to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

The team comprised brothers Lawrence and Fareed Albahra, Ross Montague, Mark Hayne, Sam Knight, Dominic Brown and James Doughty, all aged between 22 and 24.

They arrived back in the country on August 14, after 10 days of cycling.

Before leaving, Lawrence said: “Originally it was a challenge that the group wanted to take on as we are quite active in that sense, really just for fun. However, as interest grew it was obvious we could raise a healthy amount of money for charity so decided to change tact completely and the cycle changed into a charity orientated challenge.

“Cancer is something that affects everyone in today’s society, be it directly or indirectly. As a group, many of us have had to deal with the disease in very recent times on a direct and very personal level through friends and family suffering from the disease.

“It’s something close to our hearts and really motivated us as a team to achieve our goal of cycling to Geneva.”

On their return, Lawrence said the highlights were cycling into Paris and seeing the Arc du Triumph on day three and cycling to the top of their last mountain climb to see Mount Blanc and Switzerland.

Their lowlights included having to cycle 40 miles after just two hours’ sleep from Diepe to Rouen at 4am, only to be met by a huge hill. They also had non-stop rain on day five from Font au Blur to Auxerre.

The boys trained hard for the past eight months and made a joint decision to raise money for the charity.

They have raised more than £14,000 and numerous activities before they left including selling burgers next to Twickenham stadium during the winter Internationals, barbecue fundraisers and standing outside Tesco in the cold with fundraising buckets.

To donate, visit justgiving.com/TeamACL.