THREE childhood friends are set to travel 10,000 miles across mountains, deserts and steppe on roads for charity.

The team known as the ‘Exhausted Idiots,’ made up of Charles Henderson, Will Jackson and Nicholas Elliott, will pile into a tiny 1,000cc car to partake in the Mongol Rally.

Setting off on July 18, the trio will drive from England to Mongolia, driving through remote countries and even travelling past an area in Turkmenistan known as ‘The Gates of Hell.’

The threesome, who met while at primary school, decided to take on the challenge when Odiham resident Charles watched a friend of his taking part.

He said: “I watched them take on the whole challenge through social media and it looked like an amazing experience.

“Going to all these places that not many people have visited is going to be really interesting and I am really looking forward to witnessing all these new cultures.”

During the rally, the trio aims to raise money for four charities.

Cool Earth, which is the challenge’s chosen charity along with three causes close to the group; Canine Partners, Breast Cancer Haven and Change of Scene.

The team aims to raise £1,000 for the charities.

Charles added: “My mum is heavily involved with Breast Cancer Haven and the other are great charities and Cool Earth is doing really good things for the environment.”

When asked what type of preparation the group are doing to get ready Charles added: “Where we are all at university, we aren’t really doing a lot of driving at the moment.

“So it might be a bit of a shock when we have to do these long drives across open roads and through mountains.”

The whole challenge is expected to take up to a month.

To support the Exhausted Idiots visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/TeamExhausted.