THE longest day was very long for schoolboy Matthew Harding, who completed an 88-mile charity bike ride to help a children's nursery in Uganda.

Matthew, 11, and his dad, Joe, of Upper Cam, were among 24 cyclists who took part in the fund raising challenge.

It involved completing the entire circuit of the Avon Cycleway in 13 hours, starting in Clevedon and taking in Chew Valley Lake, Bristol Airport, Keynsham and Yate, where they stopped for a break, before continuing to Horton, Hawkesbury Upton, Thornbury and Avonmouth before returning to Clevedon.

Matthew was the youngest of the group and according to his dad, showed no signs of his efforts afterwards.

Joe said: "Matthew is a very keen cyclist and was very proud of himself for completing. He was up the front of the group for most of the time, so I hardly saw him.

"He even had the honour of cutting a celebration cake after we had finished."

Through sponsorship, the ride has already raised more than £3,000 to help feed and educate the 90 children at the nursery. All of them have lost one or more of their parents and the money will cover the running costs for a year.

The ride was organised by Dave Edmonds of Severn Beach and donations will continue to be accepted until the end of July through https://mydonate.bt.com/events/cycleforuganda