A PAIR of fundraising fitness fanatics will take on their latest endurance challenge in aid of a Dorset hospice charity.

Tim Ellis, 65, and Eddie Ette, 64, will kayak across the Channel to raise money for Weldmar Hospicecare, a specialist end of life care provider for people living in Dorset.

The duo are no stranger to endurance challenges. In 2006 they ran 35 miles over the pebbles of Chesil Beach in 11 hours and they have both completed the Enduroman 'Arch to Arc' triathlon between London and Paris. They are also familiar with kayaking, having kayaked from Cherbourg to Portland, and they hold the kayaking record for the fastest 100 mile circuit of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands - three days and two hours.

The pair, both from Portland, will pick up their paddles once again to kayak non-stop from Alderney, in the Channel Islands, to Weymouth, all to raise money for Weldmar Hospicecare.

Tim, a retired physical education manager in the prison service, said: "We like to do things that haven't been done before, so we looked at the Channel Islands and thought the 60 miles from Alderney to Weymouth was achievable and we hope to do it in around 17 or 18 hours.

"Although we have done lots of endurance challenges before, we haven't done one for a few years and with our ages this might be the toughest one yet, but it is for such an important cause."

Tim and Eddie, founder of Enduroman, a company that organises ultra-distance endurance challenges for athletes, have set their fundraising target for Weldmar at £2,000, but hope to raise more than that.

Tim said: "We have set the target at £2,000 but we are hoping to smash that.

"We both have family and friends who have benefited from Weldmar care in recent years and we have both been affected by terminal illness in our families. Particularly being local to Dorset, I personally believe in the care, comfort and dignity that is given to people at Weldmar."

Eddie added: "We’ve been friends for a number of years, and we enjoy training together and our life around the water, so if we can do something like this to raise money for charity, and take pleasure in what we do, you can’t ask for better."

The charitable duo do not have a specific date for the challenge but are expecting to complete it in early May when the tide and weather conditions are optimal.

To donate to Tim and Eddie's fundraiser, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tim-ellis13