A SCHOOLBOY and his mother are setting out on an 85-mile cycling challenge to the home of a late family friend.

Jacob and Andrea Stroud are completing the gruelling charity feat in memory of Ray Baker, who passed away suddenly in 2004 from Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

Jacob, 14, and Andrea, 44, will leave their Weymouth home today and cycle to Emsworth in Hampshire, where Ray, pictured inset, lived before he passed away, in a bid to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA).

Andrea said: “It is a charity close to our hearts as we lost Ray to MND a few years ago. This is entirely Jacob’s idea.

“I am doing it with him as I won’t let him do it on his own.

“We are finishing our cycle ride at a coffee shop on the harbour front where we used to take Ray for an ice cream when he could no longer walk and was in a wheelchair.

“I have promised Jacob the biggest ice cream when we get there as I think he will deserve one.”

The pair aim to complete the journey in eight hours.

Jacob said: “I remember when Ray used to play cards with me, talk to me for hours and he was always the best person to ask to help putting my new toys together on my birthday.”

Andrea said: “He was a lovely man who had pursued careers with the Royal Marines, the fire service and as a trained carpenter in his younger years.

“He was a lovely role model for my own sons, very caring, gentle and wise.”

Jacob and Andrea hope to raise awareness of MND as research has suggested that cases of MND are on the increase. Andrea said she has been training for the big day.

She said: “I have been cycling to work at Dorset County Hospital and doing one long ride a week of about 50 miles.”

Andrea has run the London Marathon for the cause for four years while Jacob has taken part in the Weymouth Harbour swim on Christmas Day for the past two years as well as taking part in sponsored silences at school, as a way of understanding what MND sufferers experience.

To support Andrea and Jacob’s ride visit justgiving. com/jacob-andrea-stroud.