A GEOGRAPHY student from Dursley is to embark on a cycling trip around Asia to raise money for charity.

Rachael Povey, 19, of Uley Road, will cycle 3,200 miles along part of the ancient Silk Road, which begins in China and ends in Uzbekistan.

She will travel as part of a group of 10 from the University of St Andrews, in Fife, Scotland, to raise money for the Elnura Foundation and Fauna and Flora International.

Miss Povey – who attended Dursley Primary School and Rednock before going onto Cirencester College – now studies geography, Spanish and Italian at St Andrews.

It was there, after becoming involved with the St Andrews Adventure Group, that she was offered the opportunity to join the group in Cycle the Silk 2015.

She said: “I’ve never been to Asia before so it’s going to be quite a shock but I’m looking forward to it. I’m interested in geography, which is what I study, so it should be really interesting.

“We will be travelling through some incredibly rural areas, sometimes camping in the wild for days at a time as we traverse the desert.

“It will be an incredible physical challenge, but we all have a passion for adventure and we want to explore these less well known and less visited areas to understand more about the people and their way of life, and share this with others through a variety of media, such as videos and blogs.”

The group will start their journey in XI’an, in China, before travelling through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, finally ending in Tashkent in Uzbekistan. They will head to China at the end of June and begin the challenge in early July.

They have partnered with two charities: The Elnura Foundation, which works with the Centre for the Protection of Children and Babushka Adoption in Kyrgyzstan, and Fauna and Flora Foundation, who are working to protect the endangered snow leopard.

While there the team will visit the charities to offer physical support, in addition to the funds raised from the trip. They are aiming to raise a total of £10,000.

When she isn’t studying in Scotland Rachael is at home in Dursley with her parents. She also has two sisters.

To learn more about the trip visit cyclethesilk.org.uk.