A BASINGSTOKE man will cycle to Ireland to help fight to fund research into an incurable disease.

Rob Kerr, 43, of Brookvale Close, Brookvale, will attempt the challenge with his friend Luke Donegan, cycling from Reading to Roscommon in Ireland.

The final destination is the home of his sister Paula Naughton, a former Vyne School pupil, who lives there with her partner Padriac, and her three sons Archie, aged nine, and five-year-old twins Isaac and George.

The children have all been diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a rare condition that means they are unlikely to live beyond their 20th birthday.

Mr Kerr said: “When we found out two years ago the whole family was completely devastated. We did not know what to do.

“But my sister is a fighter, and you can either keel over and let it swamp you, or you can roll your sleeves up and get serious about it.”

Mrs Naughton, a nurse, has set up a charity called Join Our Boys, which has already had support from Irish actor Chris O’Dowd and X Factor impresario Simon Cowell.

Starting on August 29, Mr Kerr and Mr Donegan, his work colleague, will travel along English backroads, through the mountains of north Wales, before boarding a ferry at Holyhead across to Dublin. It will take six days.

He said: “There’s a bit of trepidation because I have never done anything like this before, and there’s a fear about bad weather.

“But when I think I cannot be bothered to go on the bike, I think of what the boys are going through. That gives me all the motivation I need.” To sponsor them visit https://www.idonate.ie/mobile/fundraiser/31395_ join-our-boys---bike-ride.html.