An east Challow man is urging people to get on their bikes in aid of a cause close to his heart.

Stephen Ferris and his daughter, Kate, who will take part in the Anthony Nolan bike ride

Stephen Ferris is training for his eighth Oxford Big Bike Ride -- an annual event raising funds for The Anthony Nolan Trust.

Over the years, Mr Ferris has raised about £9,000 for the charity. This year he wants to break the £10,000 barrier.

Mr Ferris, 51, said: "I was diagnosed with leukaemia ten years ago and although I didn't have a bone marrow transplant, that would have been the next course of treatment."

Mr Ferris's 12-year-old daughter Kate, a pupil at King Alfred's Community and Sports College, will also take up the event's 50-mile challenge.

Mr Ferris, who is branch manager of Wantage's Fraser Hart Jewellers, said the ride would be a good day out as well as an excellent way of raising funds.

Money raised through sponsorship will be used to fund the growth and upkeep of the charity's register of potential bone marrow and blood stem cell donors. It will also fund research into leukaemia and aplastic anaemia.

The event takes place on Sunday, June 29, at South Park, with three circular routes of 25, 50 and 75 miles on offer. Call 01865 875757 for an entry form.

Vet Ian Hart and family doctor Neil Bryson will take a break from their animal and human patients to cycle 1,375 miles for charity.

Mr Hart, 43, of the Hart Veterinary Centre, Browning Drive, Bicester, and Mr Bryson, 43, of the Islip Surgery in Bletchingdon Road, Islip, are among 30 people taking part in the Dome to Dome ride from the Colliseum in Rome to St Paul's Cathedral, London.

They want to raise £5,000 for Leukaemia Busters, a research charity at Southampton University. The ride begins on Saturday, June 7.