A Dorchester couple will be pairing up for an epic tandem ride the length of the country.

Andrew Grassby and Sonya Gulliford will be peddling 983 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats to raise money for injured servicemen and women.

They will be setting off on July 14 and hope to cover the distance in just two weeks.

All their efforts will be in aid of Coming Home, a charity that helps injured and disabled armed forces personnel find suitable homes.

Andrew and Sonya were inspired to raise funds for the organisation after meeting someone from the Coming Home team halfway up Mount Sinai.

They were so taken with the cause that they were determined to find a way of raising funds on its behalf.

Sonya, 51, said: “It is so important that these people are not forgotten.

“You hear about the deaths on the news, but the public tend not to know about the injured.

“For them the battle isn’t over when they come home – it is only just beginning.”

Andrew and Sonya invested in their tandem around two years ago and have been making the most of it ever since.

For stonemason Andrew, 56, it will be the second time he has done the Land’s End to John O’Groats but for Sonya it will be the first time.

She said: “Andrew has done a lot more cycling then me but we both went around Brittany last year and we have done some weekends in training for this.

“We are looking forward to it, it’s just the weather that’s a worry.”

Sonya, who works for the Dorchester community rehabilitation team, said the pair had not set any fundraising targets but were hoping to raise as much as possible.

They will be staying in bed and breakfasts and youth hostels along the way and hope to finish their journey by July 27.

To sponsor Andrew and Sonya visit justgiving.com/sandatandem or look out for collecting tins in various shops around Dorchester.