Students from a Watford school are cycling more than 800 miles across Europe to raise money for Watford New Hope Trust, a charity for the homeless.

Jack, Miles and Pete, from Watford Grammar School for Boys in Rickmansworth Road, will complete their journey in Paris after cycling through Holland, Germany and France.

Watford New Hope Trust is the charity partner of the school and so far the three have raised £500 for the charity and hope to raise in the region of £1,000 in total.

Jack Bodell, one of the three who is taking part, said they were excited about setting off: "This is the first fundraising of this scale that we have done before. The New Hope Trust is our school charity and is also very local to us, so it was an easy choice."

The trio were looking for a challenge over the summer so decided to raise money for charity in the process. Jack added: "Cycling is a hobby of ours so we thought we would combine the two things. We feel ready to cope with the challenge."

Louise Broadbent, fundraising officer at the charity, said that there has been an increase in homelessness in Watford in recent years, although it has started to go down again, Ms Broadbent said: "It initially went up before falling, probably because we set up a transition service, so the numbers who are rough sleeping has fallen."

She says the charity is helping a more diverse group of people than they had in the past, "there’s been an increase in ‘sofa surfing’ and people who are seeking our help after losing their jobs."

All the money raised will go towards helping homeless or those in vulnerable housing situations in Watford. The charity houses 60 people every night and over 600 annually.

You can support the cause through their donation page: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Europeorbust